Savory Vegetarian Posole

Posole is a flavorful Mexican stew that includes hominy as its signature ingredient. Traditional posole recipes call for chicken or pork broth, but it is easy to make a version that is vegetarian -- vegan, in fact! Vegetarian posole is an ideal dish for those who haven't been vegetarian all their lives and who crave savory flavors. If you use the right broth base, you might even fool your non-vegetarian friends and family into thinking your posole is the 'real' thing. (Frontier's vegan 'chicken broth' powder is quite the crowd-pleaser.)

The 'posole basics' include broth, hominy, chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin or other spices. Many versions add tomatoes or other garden vegetables. Some add vegetarian protein sources. There are a surprising number of vegetarian posole recipes on the internet, and if you make the dish a few times, you'll probably find that you're putting your own spin on it. You can vary the ingredients and the proportions quite a bit .

...or un-recipe as the case may be

I followed a recipe the first time or two that I made vegetarian posole, but I have been making it for years -- and doing it slightly differently each time.

I'll give you the gist of how it's done, and you can rely on your taste buds to fine tune it. Just remember to err on the side of caution when wielding hot peppers! The broth can easily become too peppery.

Ingredients

Frontier's vegan chicken bullion: You can mix broth according to package instructions or you can opt to use less powder if you're restricting sodium intake. The spices add to the rich flavor, so it's easier to go a low-sodium route.

Canned rinsed hominy

Fresh garlic and onion: You might try 1 small onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic per can of hominy. Fresh garlic is a nutrition booster, particularly if you dice it a few minutes before you cook it. If you're in a hurry, though, you can use frozen onions and powdered garlic.

Green chilies: I generally use canned or frozen -- mild to medium -- but fresh are quite high in vitamin C. If you do use fresh peppers, remove the seeds, or the soup will be so spicy that you will lose the other flavors.

Mexican spices: For this recipe, I prefer low-sodium taco seasoning to chili powder. I like to throw in a dash of cumin, too -- cumin is the most traditional posole seasoning.

Cooking oil

Fresh parsley

Steps

1. Sautee onions until they're almost translucent, then toss in chopped garlic. (If you're using fresh peppers, you'll want to fry them alongside the onion.)

2. Add Frontier's broth mix to cold water, then begin boiling the mixture.

3. Add most of the remaining ingredients: the onion, garlic, and pepper mix, plus the canned hominy. Add seasonings to taste.

4. Simmer; wait to add fresh chopped parsley until you're almost ready to serve. (You may also want to add grated cheese -- dairy or vegan -- just as you take the pot off the stove.)

This posole recipe is very similar to mine -- it's even based on the same brand of bullion! It differs in that it does call for tomatoes. It also uses chile powder instead of taco seasoning, and cilantro instead of parsley. (If you are a fan of measuring cups and measuring spoons, you'll find some proportions here.)

This version uses several types of chile pepper, and combines veggie bullion and miso for a savory broth.

Want a little tofu with that soup? Here is a nontraditional, but antioxidant rich posole stew, from ChefMD.

Tofu is one option for adding vegetarian protein. Seitan is another. I think that seitan gives a more traditional flavor. It's actually very easy to make: just mix 'vital wheat gluten' and water or broth until the mixture becomes thick and rubbery. Then break it into little pieces and simmer... and simmer... and simmer.

Because those lumps of wheat gluten dough take about an hour of stovetop cooking, this is a step you'll want to carry out in advance! I like to cook up a big batch and then freeze some. Here you see seitan frozen with other posole fixings, such as diced hot peppers.

Of course seitan can also be purchased ready-made. The downside is price.

As an alternative, you can try frying a little veggie sausage in oil and adding it to the stew. I have used Trader Joe's vegetarian Italian sausage: one three-ounce vegetarian sausage to accent a 29-ounce can of hominy and a small can of mild green chiles.

It does improve the texture of the vegetarian sausage to fry it before adding it to the broth. A surprising choice of oil? Sesame! It gives a savory taste.

Image by the author

Want some more vegetables in your stew? Try these recipes. Each has its own character. I've annotated the list to let you know what the signature ingredients are in each.

This is another basic posole recipe, except that there are few shortcuts; the cook starts with dried hominy. This adds quite a bit to the prep time as the kernels need to soak before cooking.

There aren't a lot of veggies in this one, but there are several seasonings, combined in a rich, Colorado-style sauce, which apparently freezes well.

The cook also discusses the many ways posole recipes can be adapted. You can find some good ideas for garnishes here. Feta... now that's a surprise.

• Tortilla chips with guacamole
• Cheese enchiladas or soy chorizo taquitos
• Spicy refried beans (How about adding a small amount of canned chopped chipotle pepper?)
• Mexican hot chocoate

This video demos a yummy, posole-based meal. The cook uses cabbage and lime as garnishes. She even fries up her own tortilla chips!