Cinco De Mayo is coming up! We love playing music, dressing up the table and having a fun family dinner.

Prepare your menus in advance. This is one of our favorites. We love to serve it with strawberry and watermelon agua frescas, rice and pinto beans, fresh salsa cruda with fresh made tortilla chips, lots of chopped cilantro, and whatever sweet Mexican dessert sounds good to us.

Chile Verde

1 tablespoon canola oil
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour object
4 cups chopped onion
2 pounds small tomatillos, husks and stems removed and quartered
1 pound Anaheim or poblano chiles (about 4 medium), cut into 1-inch pieces
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups water
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Heat canola oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add pork to bag; seal. Shake to coat. Add pork to pan, and sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove pork from the pan.

Add onion, tomatillos, chiles, and garlic to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Add pork, water, and remaining ingredients to pan; bring to a simmer. Cook 2 hours or until pork is tender, stirring occasionally. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 267(26% from fat); FAT 7g (sat 1.6g,mono 3g,poly 1.5g); PROTEIN 26.4g; CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 45mg; SODIUM 511mg; FIBER 3.7g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 18.9g

Chef: Traci Des Jardins

Cooking Light, MAY 2005