Baked Chiles Rellenos with Smoky Tomato Sauce

I have been a subscriber of Vegetarian Times for about a year and a half now. It was a Christmas present from my mother-in-law, to help me find more vegetarian recipes for my husband.

Since then, I have tried a few recipes, but decided recently to make a list of ones I really wanted to try. This was the first one I chose. Chiles Rellenos is a popular Mexican dish that my Dad always ordered, and I liked to get a bite. This recipe from VT October 2010 has less calories as it is packed with lots of veggies and cheese and baked. It is a very spicy dish- you may want to handle the poblano peppers with gloves, as my hand was burning after pulling all the seeds out. Despite that, it was a very tasty dish. Be sure to serve with rice and sour cream.

Ingredients:

Chiles Rellenos-

6 large poblano chiles
2 t. vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup shredded low fat Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1 large egg
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime, cut into 6 wedges
1/3 cup low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt

Sauce-

2 t. vegetable oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 t. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained

1.) To make Chiles Rellenos: Roast and peel chiles.* Cut 3-inch slit in each chile, and remove seeds with a spoon.
2.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Add zucchini and corn, and cook 5 minutes more. Season with salt, if desired. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in cheese.
3.) Stuff each chile with 1/2 cup zucchini mixture. Secure closed with toothpicks.
4.) Whisk egg with 1/2 cup water in bowl. Spread breadcrumbs on a plate.
5.) Dip chiles in egg wash. Coat with breadcrumbs. Place on baking sheet, and bake 15 to 25 minutes, or until golden.
6.) To make Sauce: Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, chili powder, and cumin, and cook 4 to5 minutes, or until onion is soft and spices are fragrant. Add tomatoes, and simmer 10 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with spatula or wooden spoon. Transfer to a blender, add chipotle chile, and blend on low speed until sauce is smooth.

Serve chiles rellenos with sauce, cilantro, lime wedges, and sour cream.

*To roast and peel chiles-

Stove top: place 1 poblano directly on grate of gas burner with flame turned to high. Roast until charred on all sides, turning with tongs. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and let steam 15 minutes. Rub off skin.

Huevos Rancheros My Way

My take on huevos rancheros!

Ingredients:

whole wheat tortillas
refried black beans
your favorite salsa
eggs
shredded cheddar cheese
avocado (optional)

Take a whole wheat tortilla and put it in a hot pan with a bit of oil to prevent it from sticking. Let it brown and crisp up a bit on both sides, then place it to the side. Scramble eggs. While those are cooking, heat up your refried black beans and dice your avocado. To assemble, put a tortilla on a plate, spread a layer of refried black beans, salsa, and then top with scrambled eggs. Put the shredded cheddar on top of the eggs and let the cheese melt. Top with diced avocado if desired, and serve!

Spinach Enchiladas

When looking for recipes this week, I found myself really wanting to make enchiladas- I think it was after watching either a Bobby Flay throw down or Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Mexican food. So I went searching for vegetarian enchiladas for both my hubby and I, and found this recipe from Emeril.

They were delicious! Full of spinach and cheese with a little bit of spiciness from the poblano peppers. These were definitely not low calorie though, so next time I'll have to find a recipe that tones it down a bit. But, it's Emeril and he always has to take it up a notch!

Mexicali Chop with Crunchy Tortilla Strips

One of my favorite things to order when going out to eat is a nice big salad. Some people may think that a salad doesn't qualify as a main course, but to me, give me a bowl full of lettuce, chopped chicken, veggies, shredded cheese, and dressing and I am one happy girl.

We've been going through a heat wave in Southern Ohio, staying the in the low 90s, and lots of humidity. So when I came across a recipe for a Mexican style salad in my new Vegetarian Times, I knew I had to try it out.

This salad is minus the meat (obviously), but for meat lovers you can easily add chicken, steak, shrimp, etc. This salad reminded me of one of my favorite main course salads that I often get at Cheesecake Factory. The crunch tortilla strips put this over the top and added a little spiciness. The dressing was what made this salad though- without it, it would be just lettuce, beans, and veggies.

So try this out next time you need something light on a hot summer's night!


Tortilla Strips:

1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
3 6-inch corn tortillas
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon maple crystals or sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
pinch cayenne pepper

Salad

1 head romaine lettuce, sliced (8 cups)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (2 cups)
1 avocado, diced (1 cup)
3 celery stalks, sliced (1 cup)
1 cucumber, seeded and diced (1 cup)
1 cup, fresh or frozen, thawed corn kernels
3/4 cup cooked pinto beans
1/2 cup jarred roasted red bell peppers, rinsed, drained, and sliced
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

1.) To make Tortilla Strips: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush oil on tortillas. Cut in half, then cut into 1/8-inch wide strips. Spread on baking sheet. Combine chili powder, maple crystals, and salt in bowl. Sprinkle chili powder mixture over strips. Bake 15 minutes, or until crisp. Cool.

2.) To make Dressing: heat oil, garlic, cumin, coriander, sugar, and salt in saucepan 2 to 3 minutes over low heat, or until garlic begins to sizzle.

3.) Blend remaining Dressing ingredients with garlic oil in blender until smooth.

4.) Toss together all Salad ingredients with Tortilla Strips and 1/4 cup Dressing.

Baked Chiles Rellenos with Cheese

Baked Chiles Rellenos with Cheese

This is one of my dad's favorite things to get at a Mexican restaurant. I've tried chiles rellenos before, but never made it a whole meal. While continuing to look for new vegetarian recipes, I came across this in the Joy of Cooking. (By the way, if you don't own a copy of this cookbook, go out and buy it now! It has everything you could possibly imagine in it, plus lots of tips and techniques for new cooks.)

I wasn't sure what poblano peppers were, but luckily found them in our supermarket- the skin looked a bit wrinkly, but otherwise pretty good. Here is what they looked like before I put them in the oven to soften up:



I had trouble getting the peppers to blacken. Joy of Cooking suggests holding them over a burner, but we have an electric oven in our apartment so I couldn't do that. I put them in the oven for a bit, and while they didn't turn black, they did soften.



The stuffing for the peppers is complete goodness: where can you go wrong with cheese?


Ingredients:

6 medium poblano peppers
8 ounces Mexican Chihuahua, Monterey Jack, brick, or mild Cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded (*I bought a Mexican blend at the store.)
2 large scallions, minced
warmed chunky salsa
chopped fresh cilantro

1.) Grill or broil the poblano peppers, turning occasionally, over a burner or 4 inches below a preheated broiler until blistered and blackened on all sides and slightly softened, 5 to 10 minutes.

2.) Peel the charred skin from the peppers and rinse them briefly. Make a long slit in the side of each pepper and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Pat dry and place on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3.) Mix together the cheese and scallions.

4.) Form into six ovals, then stuff the ovals into the center of the peppers and gently reshape them. Bake for 15 minutes to thoroughly heat through. Serve hot.





I served them alongside rice and tortilla chips. This was a pretty quick and easy dinner-and a nice break from the typical Mexican dinner of burritos or quesadillas.