My Mexican-Inspired Veggie Dish
This seasonal veggie dish was inspired by a traditional meal known as puchero. Puchero is often hailed as a meat and veggie stew, which is thought to originate in Spain. But the puchero I sampled in Mérida, Mexico, as a college student, included chicken, fall veggies, radishes, and chayote, boiled in a soup with garlic, oregano, cilantro, onions, chicken bouillon, cabbage, noodles, and lemon juice. Here, I steered away from this signature puchero, omitting the meat, soup, and cilantro, cabbage, and noodles in broth, while substituting cauliflower and yellow crookneck squash for radishes and chayote. Also, I swapped the lemon juice for juice of Mexican key limes to temper the characteristic sweetness of this veggie dish, full of vegetables, like carrots and onions caramelized in butter, and boiled butternut squash and plantains. And to balance the flavor profile, I added a pre-made seasoning of Mexican saffron, annatto, and turmeric with a splash of apple cider vinegar. It’s a mash, as my host mother joked, speculating that this dish got its name from the squishing of cooked vegetables, making a sound like puch, puch, puchero.
Ingredients
- 1 large plantain*
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 1 yellow crookneck squash
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 3 new potatoes
- 2 large carrots
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 15 sprigs oregano, tied in a satchel
- 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ¼ cup of Mexican key limes
- 3 T. unsalted butter
- 1 packet Sazón GOYA® with Saffron, available on Amazon
- 1 T. apple cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- *Tip: plantains are ripe if soft to the touch and have turned mostly black.
Directions
- Step 1 First, if you are using a whole butternut squash, preheat the oven to 400 °F and prep your squash. Take a sharp chef’s knife and slice both ends (the top and bottom) off your squash, so it sits squarely and is more secure. Then, with the squash upright, use your knife, with care, to cut down vertically through this vegetable. If you’re having trouble cutting the squash, you can pierce the outer skin with a fork and microwave it for 30 seconds to soften the flesh, then re-try cutting. After you’ve cut the squash in two, scoop out the seeds and baste the entire top and cavity with ¼ cup butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes or longer until the squash is fork tender. Note: I use pre-cut cubes of squash to save time.
- Step 2 Now, wash the carrots and cut into thick rounds, and afterwards, dice the onions and mince the garlic. Add 3 T. butter to a 10-12-inch nonstick skillet or Dutch oven and melt on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Toss in the carrots and onions and sauté for 8 minutes, and then, add the garlic and sazón, continuing to cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer to a 7-8-quart stockpot. Next, wash the crookneck squash, plantain, cauliflower, and potatoes, and add them to the stockpot whole, without peeling the plantains or any of the vegetables. And if you’re using pre-cut squash, toss the cubes into the stockpot with the rest of the veggies. Then, pour the broth into the stockpot and insert the oregano sprigs in a satchel or cheesecloth, floating them in the stockpot. Lastly, pour in the vinegar and lime juice.
- Step 3 Next, bring the broth and veggies to a boil over high heat on the stovetop and lower to a simmer, boiling the veggies for 20-30 minutes or until fork tender. After they’re cooked, lift the veggies out of the broth or drain them in a colander and set aside. Discard the broth.
- Step 4 Now, let the vegetables cool until they’re safe to handle. Then, remove the skin from the potatoes and the peel from the plantain. Squish both veggies with your fingers until they make a clumpy paste. Next, scoop out the flesh from the squash if you baked it whole or take the pre-cut squash and squish it, too. After this, take your crookneck squash and toss out some of its inside if you don’t like the texture. Lastly, add the onion and squish the carrots and cauliflower, too. Mix it all and taste for seasoning, adding a little salt and pepper if needed. Serve with yellow rice for a nice accompaniment.
My Mexican-inspired veggie dish was adapted from a traditional veggie and meat stew called puchero. My unique take on this authentic recipe calls for carrots. plantains, butternut squash, crookneck squash, Yukon potatoes, and cauliflower florets, which are all seasoned with oregano and a pre-made saffron condiment.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Servings per recipe: 4, calories: 309, total fat: 11.7 g., saturated fat: 6.5 g., cholesterol: 24 mg., sodium: 1315 mg., total carbohydrate: 42.9 g., dietary fiber: 3.9 g., total sugars: 5.4 g., protein: 10.6 g., calcium: 87 mg., iron: 2 mg., potassium: 807 mg., vitamin D: 6 mcg.