Black Bean Chilaquiles Verdes (From The Complete Plant Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen)

I love looking through cookbooks and finding recipes for dishes that I have never heard of. I came across this recipe for black bean chilaquiles verdes and was very intrigued to try it. I was a little nervous because there was not a picture that followed the recipe, so I had to rely solely on the directions to make sure that I got the meal right. This dish had a sauce base to which I added black beans and corn tortilla chips. I garnished it with a few different things and served it hot.

This recipe came together almost like a chili/soup. I started by preparing all of my vegetables to make it easier when it came time to need them. For the garnishes, I made a yogurt dressing with almond milk yogurt, lime zest, and water. I also thinly sliced radish, jalapeno, diced an avocado, picked cilantro leaves, and diced an onion (I reserved ¼ of it for the garnishes). Then, I prepared the corn tortilla chips by cutting corn tortillas into 8 pieces, covering them in oil, and baking them for about 20 minutes. Lastly, I turned to the sauce. I sauteed some Anaheim peppers (the recipe called for poblano, but the supermarket was out of them), jalapeno, onion, and salt together until the vegetables were soft. I added some garlic and cumin. I followed that with tomatillo puree (the recipe calls for whole tomatillos, but I could only find the puree and I think it was a fine substitute) and water. I ran an immersion blender through the sauce before adding in black beans. Lastly, I added in the corn tortilla chips and kept it on the heat for about 2 minutes. I removed the sauce from the heat, divided it into bowls, and garnished. 

I really love working with different flavors and different spices, but this dish was lacking in flavor. I could taste the tomatillos, but the cumin did not come through and the spice from the peppers did not come through. If I were to make this again, I think I would add additional cumin and some cayenne to help the heat shine. I think that if you add a component to a dish that you should be able to taste it and celebrate its flavor. That being said, I did enjoy this dish. I would eat it again, but I would like to adjust it.

Taste: 8/10

Notes for next time: This could use some improvement. I would like to see more flavor.