The Food Lab Junior: Kid-Friendly Pozole Verde Recipe

For the Soup: Heat the pumpkin seeds in the base of a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until they start to pop and smell nutty, about 4 minutes. Transfer the pumpkin seeds to a bowl and set them aside. Add chicken, tomatillos, onion, peppers, chicken stock, oregano, and a large pinch of salt to the Dutch oven. Stir everything to combine, pushing down the chicken pieces until they are mostly submerged. Bring the broth to a boil over high heat then reduce it to a bare simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are completely tender, about 40 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large plate or bowl and set aside. Add pumpkin seeds and cilantro to the Dutch oven. Using a hand blender directly in the Dutch oven, or working in batches with a countertop blender, purée soup in batches. (If using a countertop blender be sure to start on the lowest speed and slowly ramp it up to avoid the danger of hot soup exploding out of the top). Return the soup to the Dutch oven and add the canned, drained hominy. Keep it warm on the stovetop. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces with your fingertips. Stir the picked chicken back into the soup. To Serve: Ladle the hot soup into bowls and serve, letting your dining companions garnish their soup however they’d like at the table with diced avocado, diced radish, thin-sliced hot chiles, chopped cilantro, and diced white onion