Easy Posole Skillet

From Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 2005

4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp masa harina (all purpose flour can be substitued)
1 can hominy (white or golden), drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded chicken
2 cups shredded chihuahua cheese (I substituted mexican blend)

Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove, drain drippings (reserve 1 tbsp in skillet). Crumble bacon and set aside.

Place bell pepper, jalapenos, onion and garlic into skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and masa harina (flour) and cook 1 minute while stirring. Add hominy, chicken, and zucchini. Cook for 3 minutes until mixture is slightly thickened, stir occassionally.

Reduce heat to low, stir in half the cheese. Top with bacon, cilantro and remaining cheese. Cover and cook 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Comments: As I got into making this I started becoming very skeptical of how it was going to taste. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. It is perfect for summer. All the veggies tasted like summer to me. There are some hard to find ingredients. Masa Harina is a finely ground cornmeal. My grocery has a GREAT latin foods section and I couldn't even find it. Same with the chihuahue cheese. I think those would have to be found at a specialty grocer. I think the substitues worked just as well though. I also tagged this as vegetarian because I think you could take away the bacon and chicken and not miss any of the flavor. If you don't like hominy (why would you not, though?!?) I think corn would also be a good substitute.