Tag Archives: Hatch green chile

Green chile herby carrots

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Spring makes me think of wee lambs gambolling across clover-filled fields which then makes me think of adorable bunnies (second only to lambs in the cuteness category) and from there my mind leaps into the vegetable world and ends up at carrots. Because rabbits eat carrots, right? Only they don’t. A quick search of the ‘ole world wide web and I learned rabbits should eat mainly hay or grass (yawn). It turns out the whole carrot thing is a myth.

Sigh. What next? No Santa Claus?

I stubbornly stick on carrots and figure that if rabbits aren’t eating them, then there is probably a glut of them. Which means it’s our responsibility at Chile Trail HQ to get cooking. Carrots are naturally sweet (thus the no-no for rabbits) and are a partner for just about everything except the kitchen sink.

For something fresh and suitably spring-like, we’ve paired it with a heady blend of herbs, nuts, seeds, some toasted sourdough bread and last, but certainly not least, chile. The ingredients are whizzed up into a crumbly mixture that is a joy with carrots — any veg for that matter — or on top of eggs, a piece of fish or chicken. It’s so versatile that you’ll be dabbing a bit behind your ear and calling it eau d’ spring.

Green chile herby carrots

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 bunch carrots, about 1 lb.

1 thick slice of sourdough bread, toasted

3 Tbsp. roughly chopped walnuts

1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1/4 cup roughly chopped dill

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

1/2 lemon zest only

2 tsp. Hatch green chile flakes

4-5 Tbsp olive oil

Sea salt

To garnish:

Walnuts

Pumpkin seeds

Hatch green chile flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice the carrots lengthwise into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the carrots. Place them in an ovenproof casserole dish, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over them, along with a healthy sprinkile of sea salt. Give them a toss to coat and place them in the oven for around 20-25 minutes, until cooked through and golden.

While the carrots are cooking, place the walnuts, pumpkins seeds and Hatch green chile flakes in a small frying pan. Toast over medium heat for several minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Tear the sourdough bread into chunks and blitz in a small blender with the nuts, seeds, chile, dill, mint, lemon zest and around 3 tablespoons of olive oil. It should form a rough and grainy paste that can be crumbled over the carrots. Add a bit more oil if needed.

Remove the carrots from the oven and place on a serving dish. Spoon some of the herby mixture over the carrots and garnish with more walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and chile flakes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Tomato Salad with Cilantro Pesto

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I never met a tomato I didn’t like. Scratch that. I never met a vine-ripened tomato I didn’t like. Now don’t start rolling your eyes and muttering under your breath. I can hear you, you know and no, I’m not being an elitist snob.

Okay, maybe I am, but so what? Sometimes in life there is a right way to do something and a wrong way. And trust me folks, picking a tomato when it’s green, transporting it halfway around the world and then popping it in the refrigerator is wrong. W-R-O-N-G.

Whoever thought that tomatoes need to be refrigerated anyway? The refrigerator is for bottles of strange chutneys and sauces that you use once and then forget about for 2-3 years. It’s for leftovers that find their way to the very back of the shelf where they gestate until they’re so covered with fuzzy mould that you can’t tell if they were animal, vegetable or mineral. The fridge is not, however, for tomatoes.

Refrigerating tomatoes kills the flavor so don’t do it. Got it?

Tomatoes should smell of sun (yes, I know that technically you can’t smell sun, but bear with me). They should be warm to the touch, firm yet yielding and above all, juicy. Place thick slices between two pieces of white bread that have been liberally slathered with mayonnaise. And don’t forget to generously season them with salt and pepper. Eat and enjoy life as the tomato juices run down you chin.

Yes, it’s messy. Yes, you look like a slob. Yes, you trash that brand new white shirt you bought (what were you thinking of buying a white shirt for heaven’s sake?). But it’s worth it. Just don’t let those precious tomatoes anywhere near the fridge. Promise?

Toasting nuts is not the time to check your emails or put a load of laundry in. Focus, people, focus.

And if you’d like something a smidge more sophisticated, then try our tomato salad recipe.

Tomato Salad with Cilantro Pesto

Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes

Small bunch of cilantro, leaves and stems washed and roughly chopped

2 heaping Tbsp pine nuts, plus more for garnishing

1 small clove of garlic, minced

3 oz olive oil

1/8-1/4 tsp Hatch green chile powder

Salt

Chile pequin, to garnish

Place the pine nuts in a small saucepan and toast them for a few minutes over medium heat until nicely browned (Browned people, not burnt. There is a difference). Remove from the pan and allow the pine nuts to cool. Place the cilantro in the bowl of a small food processor along with the minced garlic, Hatch green chile powder, pine nuts and two tablespoons of the olive oil. Blitz until it forms a rough paste. Season with salt and add more chile powder if it needs more heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil if the mixture feels too thick — you should be able to drizzle it over your tomatoes.

Slice your non-refrigerated tomatoes and place them on a plate. Drizzle over the pesto and garnish with more pine nuts and some Chile pequin. Serve and enjoy.

Even better? Add a baguette so you can soak up all those juices!

Green chile potato salad

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Whoever said the potato is humble? There is nothing humble about the noble spud. Yes, it grows quietly underground, doing it’s tuber-thing. It doesn’t call attention to itself but does that make it humble? Nay, gentle reader. On the contrary. Picture a tiny new potato, boiled gently, sliced in half, a bit of the flesh spooned out and replaced with a dollop of black caviar and a lick of sour cream. Call that humble?

Or try vichyssoise. That’s vihsh–ee–SWAHZ, darling. The rich, creamy, potato and leek soup that’s served cold, and garnished with a fluttering of chopped chives. You say a bowl of pureed onions and potatoes? I say you’re a philistine.

The beauty of potatoes is that they can go all ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ one moment and down home comfort food the next. They are culinary chameleons. As it’s the Fourth of July (cue fireworks, burned burgers and dodgy hotdogs), we thought a green chile potato salad was in order. We’ve used small, new red potatoes, celery including the leaves, if you can find them, and shallots instead of onions.

Yes, slightly pretentious but we can live with that. What we can’t abide is anything humble, except for home of course.

If you can find celery with the leaves, don’t toss them. Finely chop the leaves and add to your potato salad.

Serves 5-6 as a side dish

1.25 lbs. potatoes, preferably new red potatoes but we won’t quibble

1 stalk of celery, diced, plus chopped celery leaves if you’ve got them

1 small banana shallot, finely minced

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 – 1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp Hatch green chile powder, or more to taste

Salt

Rinse the potatoes, slice them in half and put them in a pan with water. Generously salt the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until the potatoes are just tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, place the diced celery, celery leaves if you have them, minced shallot, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, olive oil and the Hatch green chile powder — basically the rest of the ingredient list Einstein — in a bowl. Combine. Drain the potatoes and while hot, add to the bowl. Give a firm but gentle stir (like you’re dealing with a slightly over excited five year old). Serve as is or at room temperature.

Call that humble?