Feelin' hot, hot, hot

Ever since last week when I was using spicy foods to help clear out my sinuses, I have *not* been able to get enough heat in my meals! It's crazy (and no, I'm not pregnant). Today, for example, I drenched my Morningstar Farms spicy black-bean burger with Frank's RedHot, whereas I'd normally just use mustard and cheese. And at dinner, when I opened a jar of homemade salsa (from my sister--I don't can!) I wanted to eat the whole thing--great big chunks of tomato, generously diced onion, gigantic slices of jalapeños--before it even got to our waiting baked potatoes. And now, here I sit with my after-dinner snack: a helping of Food Should Taste Good sweet potato chips and, yes, more of that delightful salsa. (The chips are great, too, by the way. Gluten free!) In honor of my spicy tooth (hey, you can have a sweet tooth) I decided to finally blog the jalapeño poppers we made for the SuperBowl.

These are from a Clean Eating Magazine email newsletter, and we made them as written (but we used gluten-free flour and halved the recipe since we ended up staying home that night). Our only problem was that The H cleaned them so well, the peppers didn't have any kick left! We'll leave more of the rib/membrane in next time. Since then, we've been enjoying the remaining peppers sliced up and added to burgers and soups.

See? Here they are, all clean and ready to stuff:

This is what the stuffing looks like all mixed up. I probably could have left this photo out... :z

And, ta-dah! Finished product. We served these with low-fat sour cream mixed with peach salsa for dipping.

Clean-Eating Jalapeño Poppers from Clean Eating Magazine, recipe by J. Lusted

Serves: 20

Time: 1hr, 5min

Ingredients:

20 jalapeño peppers

1 cup spelt flour or whole-wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup egg whites

3 Tbsp raw honey

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

3 green onions, sliced

1 1/4 cup shredded low-fat cheddar cheese, divided

1/3 cup low-fat sour cream, optional

1/3 cup salsa, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*.

2. Wearing gloves, cut the stem end off each pepper. Cut peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. (The gloves are important!) Place the peppers cut-side up on a baking sheet.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, chili powder, and cumin. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg whites, and honey. Add the yogurt mixture, cilantro, green onions, an 1 cup of the cheese to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (Photo #2).

5. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the mixture into the center of each pepper half. Place peppers back onto the baking sheet.

6. Bake the stuffed peppers for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 2 more minutes or until the tops are golden and the cheese is melted. (I think mine are especially toasty-looking in Photo #3 because I turned the broiler on them at this point.) Cool 5 minutes before serving. Arrange on a platter and serve with sour cream and salsa.

You can also make this into a cornbread by following these instructions:

Add all of the cheese to the cornmeal-yogurt mixture. Chop 2 to 3 seeded jalapeño peppers and add them to the mixture as well, before pouring the batter into a nonstick baking pan (9 x 11"). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350* or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Nutrition information, copied directly from the email newsletter:

Nutrients per 2 poppers (2 stuffed jalapeño halves):
Calories: 82, Total Fat: 1.5 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 13 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 4 g, Protein: 4 g, Sodium: 171 mg, Cholesterol: 3.5 mg