herbs – The Ardent Cook

Pork Chile Verde

Pork Chile Verde is an easy and delicious way to infuse some flavor into your weekly meals. Made in either the Instant Pot or slow-braised in the oven or slow-cooker, this pork is delicious served in tacos, over nachos, alongside veggies or a crunchy salad, or as is. My own personal favorite way to eat this pork chile verde is to stir in some fresh or frozen corn, canned beans, diced zucchini, and some greens like spinach or kale for a flavorful pork stew topped with radishes and whatever cheese I’ve got on hand. It’s SO good and perfect for a cold winter meal. Read on for the recipe as well as three different methods to cook this chile verde (Instant Pot, slow-cooker, or oven)!

Ingredients needed to make Pork Chile Verde

To start this recipe, you can choose between making your own salsa verde or using a store-bought ones. Both options are great, but I will say that the homemade salsa verde is next-level. Using just a few fresh ingredients, your broiler, and a blender, you can have homemade salsa verde in under 15 minutes. It’s AMAZING. Here’s everything you’ll need:

For the salsa verde:

Fresh tomatillos
Poblano peppers
Jalapeno peppers
Yellow or white onion
Garlic
Cilantro

For the pork:

Pork tenderloin
Avocado oil
Chicken broth
Ground cumin
Dried oregano
Fresh lime juice
Salt
Pepper
Radishes
Cilantro

Tools used to make Pork Chile Verde

Depending on which method you choose to make this chile verde, and whether you choose to make your own salsa, the tools required to execute this dish will vary. Luckily, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary required! I’ll list the tools needed if you make the recipe exactly as written, including the homemade salsa verde. Here’s the list:

For the salsa verde:

Rimmed sheet tray
High-speed blender

For the pork:

Sharp chef’s knife
Instant pot, slow cooker, or large Dutch oven with a lid
Tongs
Two forks, for shredding meat

How to make Pork Chile Verde

This recipe looks and sounds a bit more complicated than it looks. You’ll begin by preparing your vegetables to roast under the broiler. Remove the husks from your tomatillos, halve and seed the peppers, remove the skin and quarter the onion, and peel the garlic cloves and add to a sheet tray. Drizzle all over with avocado oil, then place on the top rack directly under the broiler. Let them roast approximately 10-12 minutes until the skins are charred and the vegetables have begun to release their juices and soften. Add everything to a high-speed blender with a pinch of salt and pureé until smooth.

Once you’ve made your salsa, you’ll want to prepare the pork for searing. Cut it into roughly 2-inch pieces and heat some avocado oil in your cooking vessel of choice. My preferred method is the Instant Pot for time’s sake, but using a slow cooker or Dutch oven works great as well. Be sure to see the full slow cooker instructions in the recipe below, as you’ll need to sear the meat in a different pot before adding to the slow cooker.

Sear the meat in the hot oil, working in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Once all the meat is seared, add it back to the pot and cover with the salsa verde and chicken broth. Stir in the cumin, oregano, and a pinch each of salt and pepper, and let it cook!

You’ll know the meat is finished when it is falling apart and easily shreds using two forks. Serve this pork inside tacos or over nachos, with added veggies for a quick stew, or scooped onto a fork and devoured as is.

Looking for other easy and flavorful protein options?

Try these recipes from The Ardent Cook!

Harissa Chicken Thighs

Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash

Mediterranean Grilled Strip Steak

Recipe Ingredients

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks removed, quartered

2 large poblano peppers, halved and seeded

2 jalapeño peppers, halved and seeded

1 yellow onion, skinned and cut into 6 wedges

4 cloves garlic, skinned

1 cup cilantro leaves and stems, packed

2.5-3 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

2 Tbsp avocado oil

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh radishes, thinly sliced (optional, for serving)

Additional cilantro, for serving

Recipe Instructions

For the salsa verde

Prepare vegetables as directed and add to a large rimmed sheet tray. Drizzle with avocado oil and broil on high on the top rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until skins are black and blistered and vegetables are beginning to soften and release their juices.
Add to a high-speed blender with a pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as needed to taste. Set aside. Alternatively, one 16oz jar of store-bought salsa verde may be substituted.

Instant Pot Method (preferred)

Prepare pork as directed and season all over with salt. Turn the Instant Pot to the sauté function and heat avocado oil. Working in batches, sear the pork on all sides.
Add all of the seared pork back into the IP and top with the salsa verde, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Close the lid and place vent to “sealing” position, then cook on manual high pressure for 35 minutes. Allow for 10-15 minutes of natural pressure release, then quick release the remaining steam before opening the lid.
Shred the pork using two forks. Stir in the fresh lime juice and taste the chile verde for salt and pepper, then add to taste. Top with thinly sliced radishes and cilantro, or add to tacos, nachos, a stew, or enjoy with eggs in the morning.

Slow-Cooker Method

Prepare pork as directed and season all over with salt. Heat avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sear the pork on all sides, working in batches as necessary to avoid crowding the pan.
Transfer the seared pork to the slow-cooker and top with the salsa verde, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or on high for 2.5-4 hours. The meat is finished when it is falling apart and easily shreds using two forks.
Shred the meat, then stir in the fresh lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with thinly sliced radishes and cilantro, or add to tacos, nachos, a stew, or enjoy with eggs in the morning.

Oven Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare pork as directed and season all over with salt. Heat avocado oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the pork on all sides, working in batches as necessary to avoid crowding the pan.
Add all of the seared pork to the Dutch oven and top with the salsa verde, chicken broth, cumin, oregano, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and bake for 1.5-2.5 hours, checking periodically, until the pork is falling apart and easily shreds using two forks.
Shred the meat, then stir in the fresh lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with thinly sliced radishes and cilantro, or add to tacos, nachos, a stew, or enjoy with eggs in the morning.

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Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash

Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash is a relatively low-effort meal that feels luxurious. If you’ve never cooked bone-in chicken breasts before, this is the perfect recipe to ease you in. Bone-in chicken breasts offer so much more flavor than their boneless, skinless counterparts, and I love saving the bones for making bone broth afterwards. Delicata squash, one of my favorite fall ingredients, pairs excellently with the salty gorgonzola and flavorful chicken. Everything is topped off with a quick mustard fig pan sauce that comes together in minutes and makes the whole dish.

Ingredients needed to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash

The ingredient list for this dish looks intimidating, but trust me when I say the entire meal comes together more quickly than you’d expect. This recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. You’ll want to look for a cut labeled “split breasts” at the grocery store. These are simply chicken breasts with the skin on and breast-bone still intact. It looks much more frightening than it is, and I promise the breast can be removed from the bone with one knife cut. I’ll give more specific directions on how to do that below! Here’s the full list of what you’ll need:

Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Delicata squash

Olive oil

Gorgonzola cheese

Fresh sage

Fresh thyme

Fresh garlic

Shallots

White wine

Chicken broth

Dijon mustard

Fig jam

Salt

Black pepper

Tools used to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash

This dish is primarily cooked in the oven, so you’ll need an oven-safe skillet (I used my Le Creuset cast-iron skillet) and a baking sheet to cook the chicken and squash. You also need a good, sharp chef’s knife, cutting board, liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, and a wire whisk. However, if you’re using a nonstick pan, I’d recommend using a silicon-coated whisk such as this one.

Other than that, you’ll need a working oven and stove!

How to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash

I know this recipe sounds like a lot of technical work. It really isn’t. You’ll start by prepping the delicata squash, which is fairly simple since you don’t need to peel delicata! You can eat its skin, which is one of the best parts about it. Halve them lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and cut into ‘c’ shapes. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and pop them in the oven while you work on the chicken.

The chicken is the more technical aspect of this recipe, but I promise you can do it. You’ll want to start by familiarizing yourself with the chicken. If you’ve never seen a split breast before, it’s essentially a boneless-skinless chicken breast that you’re used to seeing just with the breast bone and skin still attached. You’ll see that the breast bone is connected at the bottom and side of the breast, so you will ultimately roast the chicken with the bone facing down and the meaty part facing up.

To separate the skin from the chicken breast, you’ll run your fingers underneath the skin and gently pull it away from the meat, creating a pocket that you can then stuff the gorgonzola-herb mixture inside of. Once the breasts are stuffed with the cheese and herbs, you’ll drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, arrange the shallots around them, and roast them in the cast-iron for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the breast.

When the chicken is finished roasting, transfer it to a cutting board to rest, and return the skillet to the stove over medium heat. Remember that the pan was just in the oven, so you’ll need to use an oven mitt to move the pan around (I’ve burnt myself one too many times by ignoring this tip). You’ll deglaze the pan with the white wine, using a whisk to scrape up the caramelized bits from the bottom, then stir in the chicken broth, dijon, and fig jam. This sauce is a wonderful balance of flavors from the savory chicken drippings, tangy mustard, and slightly sweet fig jam. It’s drinkable.

When it’s time to eat, I like to slice the chicken off of the bone before serving. Simply take your knife and run it along the side of the breast bone, working your way underneath the chicken. It should separate pretty easily. Then, I slice the chicken into pieces crosswise and place them back into the skillet with the mustard fig sauce. I then arrange the delicata squash around the sliced chicken, making sure it gets nestled in the sauce too.

This dish is so comforting and delicious, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Looking for other delicious chicken dishes?

Try these recipes from The Ardent Cook!

Roasted Apricot Chicken

Red Curry Pulled Chicken with Turmeric-Lime Rice

Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings

Quick(er) Chicken Shawarma with White Sauce

Recipe Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

3 large delicata squash

2 tbsp olive oil, plus more

½ cup gorgonzola cheese, room temperature

2 tsp fresh sage, minced

2 tsp fresh thyme, stems removed

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 medium shallots, halved, skins removed

½ cup white wine

¼ cup chicken broth

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp fig jam

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Recipe Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the delicata in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice each half into half moons about ¼-½ inch thick.
Arrange delicata on a sheet tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing half-way through.
In a small mixing bowl, combine room temperature gorgonzola, sage, thyme, and garlic. Use a fork to mix the herbs thoroughly into the cheese.
Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then pull the skin up to separate it from the chicken. Be careful not to tear it completely off, you just want a pocket between the skin and chicken. Stuff the cheese mixture underneath the skin on each breast, using your finger to spread it out into an even layer under the skin.
Place chicken in a large oven-safe skillet or baking dish, then arrange the shallots around the chicken. Drizzle chicken breasts with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts. The chicken is finished when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the chicken and allow it to rest on a cutting board for at least 10 minutes. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat, and add the wine. Use a whisk to scrape up the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, then whisk in the chicken broth, mustard, and fig jam. Allow the sauce to reduce for 5-7 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the bone. Using a chef’s knife, run your knife along the side of the breast where it meets the bone and cut, curving around the bottom of the breast until the meat separates. Slice into pieces crosswise, then place chicken back in the skillet with the mustard fig sauce.
Arrange the delicata around the sliced chicken in the skillet, and serve it family-style. Enjoy!

Green Goddess Meatballs with Carrot Fries and Lemony Herb Sauce

Hey guys! Here we go, my first formal recipe. When I was deciding what to post first, I agonized over what I thought people would want to make. Insert: a vote on Instagram stories, and now you’ve all decided for me! Thanks for that.

These meatballs are everything you need them to be during a quarantine- healthy, versatile, and delicious. The ones pictured here use ground chicken, but they would truly be great with any ground protein. I considered using a combination of ground beef and ground lamb, but unfortunately my local store was out. Use what you have, and don’t sweat it!

The meatballs are herb HEAVY, and I like them that way. If you’re not a fan of fresh herbs, just omit them or use less. Don’t like dill but love parsley? Just sub extra. But, they are called ‘Green Goddess’ for a reason people, and the herbs really do add to their flavor.

I absolutely love oven-baked fries, particularly sweet potato. However, I don’t love the work that goes into chopping all those sweet potatoes. It’s actually the worst. Your knife always gets stuck, you risk losing a finger, and the pieces never seem to turn out the shape or size you want. These carrot fries are the perfect alternative and require far less intense chopping, so you can spend more time eating them than you did prepping them. The carrots mimic the sweet-yet-earthy taste of the sweet potatoes, and the high roasting temperature allows them to get crispy and slightly caramelized on the ends.

Finally, we have the Lemony Herb Sauce, which is a non-negotiable for me. It comes together in about 3 minutes start-to-finish, and uses one bowl (or blender cup, if you want to get technical). The nuttiness of the tahini is balanced by the sharp flavors of the lemon and fresh herbs, and because we’re making it in a blender, you don’t get the big leaves of the herbs stuck in your teeth. This sauce is perfect for dipping, or you could use it as a salad dressing. Bonus: if you like the vibe of this dip, try doubling the recipe and adding a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas to the blender along with it for a flavorful, lemony hummus situation. What could be better?

If you make this recipe, don’t forget to post your photos and tag me @theardentcook on instagram. It would truly mean the world to me. Enjoy!

For the Meatballs:

1lb ground chicken (or other ground protein of choice)

3 small cloves garlic, minced

⅛ cup finely chopped parsley

⅛ cup finely chopped cilantro

⅛ cup finely chopped dill

1 TBSP dried oregano

1.5 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 egg or scant ¼ cup plain greek yogurt

½ cup homemade breadcrumbs*

1 TBSP avocado oil, or other high temperature cooking fat, for coating the pan

For the Carrot Fries:

1lb whole carrots

2 TBSP avocado oil, or other high-temperature cooking fat

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Lemony Herb Sauce

⅛ cup tahini

Juice and zest of 1 whole lemon

1 TBSP dijon mustard

⅛ cup finely chopped herbs (cilantro and parsley work best)

3 TBSP water, or more if thinner consistency is desired

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place a large rimmed cookie sheet inside the oven and allow it to get hot as the oven preheats.
Wash and dry carrots. Cut into ¼ inch sticks, resembling french fries. Coat in oil, salt, and pepper.
Carefully remove the preheated cookie sheet from the oven, using mitts. Use a spatula or tongs to spread carrot fries in an even layer on the cookie sheet, being careful to avoid crowding. Carrots should audibly sizzle when placed on the hot tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Meanwhile, combine ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs*, parsley, cilantro, dill, garlic, oregano, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, in a large mixing bowl.
Using your hands, work chicken mixture together until just combined.
Roll into 1.5 inch balls and place in an oiled 9×12 glass baking dish, leaving some room in between. Use a second baking dish if needed to avoid crowding. Recipe should yield about 15 meatballs.
Bake meatballs for 10-12 minutes, until firm to the touch and lightly golden around the edges.
To make the Lemony Herb Sauce, combine tahini, lemon juice and zest, mustard, and water in a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk together until emulsified. If the mixture appears to be “breaking” or separating, add a small amount of hot water and continue whisking until cohesive. Add parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. To thin sauce, add an additional 1-2 TBSP water. Use as a dipping sauce, sandwich spread, salad dressing, or drizzle on grilled vegetables or protein
To serve, add meatballs and carrot fries to a plate. This meal pairs well with a side salad, or grilled/roasted vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, or asparagus. Drizzle Lemony Herb Sauce over the top, or serve on the side for dipping. Enjoy!

*for the Homemade Breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Farenheit.
Bake bread slices directly on rack, flipping over halfway, for 10 minutes. Bread should feel warm and slightly toasted, but not overly browned or hard.
Break bread into smaller pieces and add to a food processor or high speed blender with nothing else. Pulse repeatedly in 3-second increments until desired particle size is achieved. 2 slices of bread will yield approximately ½ cup of breadcrumbs.