Posole for New Years

Posole:
(Forgive the blurry phone-picture,
I'm a handicapped invalid this month,
remember?)

So as some of you may know, I ended up with this crazy knee injury over Thanksgiving and with the pain meds and discomfort, have basically felt like doing NOTHING! Not to worry, I have good people taking care of me, and I head in for surgery tomorrow morning!!

That said, I wanted to post this super-simple POSOLE recipe that my best-friend-hero-housekeeper-cook-chauffeur for the past month, Shaun, whipped up for me yesterday.
 
Posole is a traditional soup/stew in his home state of New Mexico, but possibly unfamiliar to many of us in other parts of the country. It is usually made with hominy/corn kernels which have been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization (sounds yummy, right? Stay tuned. It is.) These corn kernels are re-hydrated and added to  meat, usually pork, green chili peppers, and other seasonings to make a delicious, but very simple, satisfying soup or stew.

Well, lucky for me, vegetarian Posole is pretty easy and when I whined that I wanted some, (like the poor pathetic invalid that I've been reduced to these past four weeks), Shaun jumped into action and whipped me up a giant pot of deliciousness!! It goes together pretty fast and easy (except for the soaking time) but you do need a few key ingredients, and while I'm lucky enough to have my own private New Mexican supplier, I've also discovered they're available at most specialty grocery stores and ethnic markets.

Posole

1 12 oz. package dried posole corn (hominy)
6 cups water to soak

Soak posole corn (hominy) in water overnight. The next morning, rinse well and drain. Place in slow cooker and add the following:

5 cups water
1 14 oz container frozen (thawed) roasted green chiles (like these from Bueno Foods)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano

Cook on low for 4-6 hours until corn is soft. Check liquid levels and add more if needed to keep well above the level of the corn.

When corn is soft, add:
1 8-oz package ground burger/seitan (we used Upton's Naturals Ground Seitan and it was PERFECT for this!)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 2-oz dry powdered onion soup mix envelopes (read the ingredients, some have beef broth) OR 2 Tablespoons powdered vegetarian beef-flavor broth

Heat 30 min longer or until seitan is softened and heated thru. Serve with garnish of your choice.

Typical garnishes include:
Red chili sauce
Sliced avocado
Diced tomato
Grated (vegan) jack cheese
Chopped fresh cilantro
Minced red onion

This is WELL WORTH hunting down the ingredients for, and much simpler to throw together than it first sounds.
Enjoy!!