Monday, April 25, 2011

Stuffed Poblanos in Chipotle Sauce

Stuffed peppers have a reputation for being a little on the heavy side as food goes. There are meat and rice filled options. Sometimes polanos are stuffed and then breaded and fried. Other times, they're stuffed and covered with cheese and then broiled until gooey. Those options have their desirable qualities, but you rarely hear about a light and healthy kind of stuffed pepper. I've found one, though, that's definitely worth mentioning. It was a couple of weeks ago when I couldn't decide whether to make these stuffed poblanos or a spring barley risotto, and happily, I eventually made them both. This is also from the book Power Foods, and I've been enjoying everything I've tried from it. I'm finding that all the dishes I've tried from that book have a light and healthy feel to them but are still very satisfying. The filling for these poblanos is a mix of quinoa, sauteed mushrooms, black beans, and corn. They're topped with a little goat cheese and set into a smoky sauce of pureed chipotles, garlic, and cilantro. That sauce with some spiciness and the flavor of the roasted poblanos themselves brought some spunk to the quinoa filling, and there was just enough rich tanginess from the goat cheese on top.

I went my own way with the roasting of the poblanos. In the book, you are instructed to roast them on a baking sheet in the oven, but I always roast them right over the gas flame on top of the stove unless I roast them on the grill. I use tongs to turn them as they roast and char. Then, let them cool until you can touch them, then peel off the char, and cut down one side so you can remove the seeds. The poblanos can be roasted in advance if you'd like to get a head start. Next, the quick sauce was made by pureeing canned chipotles chiles, garlic, some salt, and water in a blender. To start the filling, quinoa was simmered while mushrooms were sauteed. Once cooked through, black beans and thawed, frozen corn were added to the mushrooms. Some of the goat cheese was stirred into the mushroom mixture with the cooked quinoa. That was spooned into the four roasted poblanos. The sauce was poured into a baking dish, the poblanos were set on the sauce, the remaining goat cheese was sprinkled on top of the poblanos, and the dish baked for about 20 minutes.

A heavy filling, crispy, fried coating, and thick, gooey, melted cheese layer were not needed here. Instead, flavors of chiles mingled with the quinoa, mushrooms, beans, and corn. There was added interest from the bits of goat cheese on top that browned as the poblanos baked. The lightness of the dish was nothing like what a stuffed pepper usually is, and that made it even better.



27 comments:

  1. Bingo! are they super dooper spicy?

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  2. Fantastic! This kind of food is so great. A pity I can't buy poblano chilies here...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. Miss T: Poblanos are very mild, but chipotles can be very spicy. I added extra chipotles to the sauce, but you can control the spiciness of it by adding fewer.

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  4. I love poblanos, but stuffed with quinoa..a wonderful option!! chipoltes and poblanos togeter, yummy combo!!

    sweetlife

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  5. I adore poblanos and just wish I could get them here. Nice presentation!

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  6. Lisa you are making me drool. I just ate takeout (suspect) sushi at work back in NYC and this is just downright unfair to have to stare at right now. But then again - you give me hope for when I'm back home in TX in my kitchen and can give these a go. Delish!! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I can imagine how spicy and tasty this must be..

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  8. When I was at cooking school in Mexico City, we spent a day stuffing all sorts of peppers with different ingredients, and didn't fry a single one of them. I like this idea so much, too - I never say no to black beans and anything.

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  9. I definitely like this lighter yet flavourful take on stuffed peppers... and love the goat cheese cubes topping.

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  10. These peppers are stuffed with such wholesome goodness, that I can't imagine they're anything short of amazing!

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  11. This sounds so delicious and packed with all of the things I love... yum!

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  12. Just the kind of food I'm in a mood to cook after my trip to Southwest. Love your healthy filling of quinoa, mushrooms, beans, and corn!

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  13. I love this recipe. Loving the quinoa in it. And what a beautiful photograph!

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  14. Really like that you've used quinoa, Lisa! This looks wonderful!

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  15. These looks so delicious I never would have guessed they're actually healthy! Score! BTW, I always roast peppers directly over a gas flame as well. Takes too long in the oven. Glad that you're spreading that good tip.

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  16. I adore poblanos! The one food I missed dearly while in Lebanon (but them maybe I can grow it there??)
    this stuffing looks fantastic! What a great meal~

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  17. what a stellar combination of innard ingredients! the goat cheese is a marvelous component, and as always, i'm keen on the quinoa. :)

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  18. I'm not sure I've ever had poblanos, but these look awesome. Bet the spicey flavours are fabulous together in this.

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  19. Lisa, I'm drooling over these stuffed peppers! The flavors sound amazing. I love the departure from the traditional meat and cheese filling. Very nice!

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  20. Oh I bet it smells fantastic! Roasting the chipotle and stuffing with sauce, mmMmmm, I am soooo droooling~

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  21. Beautiful photo!!! Just came across your wonderful blog on foodbuzz & am a new follower!
    - Jessica @ http://cajunlicious.com

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  22. These looks delicious. I've made some mistakes in the past using ones that were eh... a little bit too spicy..lol... These look yummy!

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  23. Lisa, love the idea of stuffed poblanos, specially with quinoa...hope you are having a great week :-)

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  24. I love quinoa stuffed peppers but have never done it with poblanos - sounds amazing!

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  25. The quinoa mushroom idea is way better than the cheese and meat (which I do not much like anyway), and I really like it that you did not deep fry them. The flavors of the roasted peppers are enjoyed so much better this way.

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  26. I love any kind of a stuffed hot pepper!! This looks fantastic :)

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