Slow Cooker Vegetarian Posole For Christmas

   Check out what is on my menu for my Christmas dinner

 I live in New Mexico and we have some food that may be uncommon in other states. Some of the food dishes that we enjoy are green chile, tamales, tortillas, enchiladas, and posole. Some of these items are staples in the house and are enjoyed on a daily basis, like tortillas but others are enjoyed less frequently. I know that most people have heard of tortillas but here in New Mexico, they are preferred over other types of bread. We use tortillas like most people use sandwich bread. My family likes to use tortillas for peanut butter sandwiches! The grocery stores sell more tortillas than other bread products. In fact, New Mexico grocery stores have a bigger selection of tortillas than other types of breads. 



 Tamales and posole are traditional New Mexico foods that are served for special occasions and holidays. These dishes take a long time to make so that may be a reason people serve them mostly at Christmas. Sure you can buy these delicious dishes are many New Mexican restaurants and in the frozen section of the grocery store but they always taste better when homemade. Ingredients for tamales and posole are sold in abundance around the winter holidays. Ingredients like dried corn or frozen posole, red chile, and masa. 

 I like to serve southwestern food at Christmas. Posole and tortillas are common items to serve on Christmas eve here in New Mexico while tamales are a common Christmas day menu item. My family likes to serve the leftover posole with the homemade tamales on Christmas. Some times we make our tamales and other times we buy locally made tamales for Christmas. I have friends who have tamale-making parties as they do take a while to assemble.



 Traditional posole is a soup made with pork and red chile pods. I don't eat meat so I make my posole without the pork but I use plenty of red chile as that is what gives this amazing dish the flavor and some heat. We New Mexicans love spicy food. Red chile is basically green chile that has ripened more. Like green chile, it comes in different heat levels. I like my red chile at a medium level as that gives my food a bit of a spicy kick while my husband prefers hot red chile. 

  My younger boys like medium heat when it comes to chile spice level. The younger boys were born in New Mexico so they like spicy foods and eat plenty of hot salsa. When we visited Chicago, a couple of years ago, and ate at a Mexican restaurant there, the boys said that their hot salsa tasted like ketchup as it had no heat to it. When I moved to New Mexico 22 years ago, I thought that mild green chile and salsa were too hot to eat but it did not take long for my taste buds to get used to the heat of the chiles. Now I like the spicy kick of green and red chile in my food. If you visit New Mexico, make sure to ask for the chile on the side as it may be too spicy for you. Even though I have lived here for a long time, when I visit a Mexican restaurant I ask the server what the heat level of the red or green chile is. The heat can vary day by day in restaurants as they are using fresh chiles.

 Since posole can take a long time to cook, I like to make it in my slow cooker. I start the posole in the morning and let it cook all day so the dried white corn absorbs all the flavor from the spices and red chile. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to make Christmas cookies for Santa and then we enjoy bowls of posole before we attend the Christmas eve service at our church. A package of frozen posole makes a lot of soup so there are always leftovers that we enjoy the next day.

 Now that the boys are older, they are enjoying posole even more and request that I make it year-round. Once the weather gets cold, a warm bowl of posole with a fresh tortilla is the perfect meal. So I start the posole in the morning and by dinner time it is done. The aroma from the posole makes the whole house smell so good. If you can't locate frozen posole where you live just substitute hominy. 



Slow Cooker Vegetarian Posole
 serves 10-12

Ingredients:
6 quarts water
1 2 lb. package frozen Posole
10-12 ounces frozen corn
2 medium onions diced
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1½  tsp. salt
1 14 oz. container Frozen Red Chile

Instructions
Place all ingredients in the slow cooker crock. Place the lid on the crock and cook on high for 4-6 hours, stirring after one hour. Serve with cheese, sour cream, and sliced avocados if desired.

This posole goes wonderfully with tamales. Go Here to get my recipe for Slow Cooker Vegetarian Tamales.

Check out some other recipes that are on my holiday menu.

Chocolate Mint Cream Pie

http://www.momknowsbest.net/2013/12/chocolate-mint-cream-pie-oh-my.html

Green Chile Cheese Bread

http://www.momknowsbest.net/2017/12/green-chile-cheese-bread.html

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Tamales

http://www.momknowsbest.net/2016/08/slow-cooker-vegetarian-tamales.html

What is on your holiday menu?