How’s everyone hanging in there?
We’ve been settled in the same spot in a small town at the bottom of the Baja Peninsula for about two months now. It’s a beautiful spot but I’ve had to adjust my regular rotation of meals a bit.
While you can find imported produce here like fresh blueberries, you’ll pay a premium for them. As discussed in the Eating Cheap and Well issue back in July, if you’re looking to save money, try to cook mostly from local and in-season ingredients.
In the spirit of that, I’d like to introduce you to a recipe that makes use of the local ingredients here. And I’ll also introduce you to a couple of vegetables used in the recipe that you may or may not have used before.
Verdolagas
Verdolagas is also known as purslane, duckweed, and Mexican parsley. In the U.S. we mostly consider it a weed, but it does have a long culinary tradition throughout the world.
Verdolagas is a good source of vitamin E and C and is the richest vegetable source of Omega 3 fatty acids.
The whole above-ground plant is edible raw or cooked. Verdolagas has a slightly sour and salty taste. It’s so salty that you should wait until after you add the verdolagas to your dish before you taste and decide how much salt you want to add. It is mucilaginous like okra and will help thicken your dishes.
Here is a verdolagas taco we picked up at Joe’s Deli here in Los Barriles. It had a fresh green flavor and was delicious but hard to eat in a taco. Try it, but get it in a burrito instead.
The stand where we buy verdolagas offers young and more mature bunches. The stems can be as thick as a pencil. They still cook up just fine. Chop them up into small pieces.
Where can you find verdolagas in the U.S. and maybe Canada? Probably in your yard! If you aren’t comfortable with foraging try looking for it at international markets.
Tomatillos
Photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash
Tomatillos look like green tomatoes in a papery husk and originated in Mexico so it’s no surprise that they show up often in the cuisine. You may have enjoyed them without even knowing it. If you’ve ever had salsa verde at a Mexican restaurant, you’ve had tomatillos.
Depending on when they’re picked, tomatillos can range from lightly sour to sweet like a tomato. They contain quite a bit of pectin and will thicken your dish or sauce naturally.
You should be able to find tomatillos in most well-stocked grocery stores, especially across the southern third of the U.S. We were even able to find them at City Market in Pagosa Springs, Colorado - not exactly a booming metropolis. You can order canned tomatillos online but I’ve never used them.
Spicy Verdolagas, Tomatillo and Potato Stew Recipe
This dish is a wee bit spicy. I even removed most of the seeds from the serrano peppers before I added them. If you’re sensitive to heat, definitely deseed and devein before adding the peppers and reduce the quantity to one or two. You can replace it with an equal amount of poblano or green bell pepper.
The avocado is optional but does give you a bit of relief from the pepper and is a good counter to the sour and tart notes of the verdolagas and tomatillos. I added the TVP to give the stew a little more heft so that a bowl felt like a meal. You could just add more beans or skip it if you’d like.
Spicy Verdolagas, Tomatillo and Potato Stew
1 lb. tomatillos, husked and rinsed
3 large serrano chiles
1 onion, cut into thick slices
3 garlic cloves, whole and peeled
1/3 cup cilantro, plus chopped cilantro for garnish
1 lb. diced potatoes, Yukon gold or russet
1/2 cup cooked black beans (can substitute pintos here)
1/4 cup TVP, optional, for additional protein
1 1/2 cups verdolagas, chopped (can substitute 2 cups of spinach here)
3/4 tsp. salt
sliced avocado, optional, as a garnish
Broil or grill tomatillos, serranos, onion, and garlic turning once or twice until blackened. Peel and stem the chiles and deseed them if you don’t want the dish to be spicy, then add all of the broiled or grilled vegetables to a food processor with 1/2 cup water and 1/3 cup of cilantro. Process until well-combined.
Add tomatillo mixture to a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, black beans, and TVP, stir, then simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally. I had a little trouble with sticking but the heat controls on my induction plate aren’t very good.
Stir in verdolagas and cook for a few minutes until wilted. Taste for seasoning and add salt 1/4 teaspoon at a time if needed. Serve in a bowl garnished with cilantro and avocado, if using.
In Case You Missed It
It’s been a while since I posted a recipe video but I did just that recently. And both recipes are on our website.
I also popped up my pumpkin pie recipe in case you need it for Christmas. See it and the rest of our Thanksgiving mini feast in this video. We also try some new-to-us Mexican vegan products by PlantSquad and Güd in that video.
I hope you enjoyed this dispatch from Mexico!
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Have a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season and I’ll see you back here next year!