Beef Chile Verde

Chile Verde – ad libbed version

When I was married, I was introduced to chile verde the way my mother in law used to make it – with ground beef, green chiles, flour, water and seasonings. They couldn’t afford pork very often, so it was ground beef that was their go-to meat for this dish.

I have had the pork version several times. I’ve even made it and I like it, but sometimes I crave Dora’s “affordable” version. Today was one of those days.

I had about a half pound of ground beef left from packaging the meat I bought and a small can of diced green chiles, but I wanted more substance. I have no potatoes, which is what I usually like with this, but we have so many cans of beans!! I decided to add some beans (rinsed) to the mix. I don’t yet know how it will taste, but since we always had beans on the side when we had this, I don’t see how it can hurt.

I will upload a photo I just took of the bowl I got for myself. I also have some whole wheat tortillas to enjoy it with. I’m actually pretty hungry now that I’ve made something. I haven’t eaten since my banana and bagel this morning.

It’s been a while since I’ve had some, so I’m enjoying this. It’s easy to make and not at all spicy (mild green chiles are rarely super hot). They ate this for every meal of the day – maybe not all in the same day, but it didn’t matter when they made it. I enjoyed it with potatoes, beans and eggs or as a side dish with supper or at lunch with fried potatoes. Adding the beans was my idea (although my mother said she added beans, too, when she made it for my father). If I’d had potatoes, there would be no beans. But, if there’d been potatoes, I’d have had two pans to clean, so maybe this is better! LOL