Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Poblano peppers have always intrigued me, though I haven't had occasion to use them until now. Our new local produce store had them for a good price (I can't remember if they were local or not) so I was excited to make this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine. They were spicier than I was expecting; the heat kind of grew as we continued eating them. Of course, we also put Frank's RedHot on top, at least until we realized how spicy they were. The H had two servings, there is one serving leftover for a lunch, and the little guy ate plain brown rice, 1/2 ear of corn, and black beans.



Mexican Poblano Stuffed Peppers
from Clean Eating Magazine, Sept/Oct 2010
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked red beans, drained and rinsed (I used black)
1 cup cooked long-grain brown rice
1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed (I used 1.5 ears fresh local corn, cut off the cob)
1 medium tomato, diced
1 small zucchini, diced (omitted--didn't have)
2 Tbsp onion, finely chopped (used 3 green onions--sounded too wimpy otherwise)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp chili powder (I used 1/2 tsp--again with the wimpy!)
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves, chopped (omitted)
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Olive oil cooking spray
4 large poblano peppers, seeded and cut in half
1/2 cup shredded low-fat cheese
4 Tbsp low-fat sour cream (omitted)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 75* and spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix beans, rice, corn, tomato, zucchini, onion, garlic, chili powder, cilantro, oil, salt and pepper.**

2. Scoop 1/2 cup of filling mixture into each pepper half and place in roasting pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake another 10 minutes.

3. Top each pepper half with sour cream and serve immediately.

**The filling mixture can be prepared one day ahead and stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition info per 2 halves:
Calories - 242
Fat - 7g
Carbs - 35g
Fiber - 8g
Sugars - 6g
Protein - 12g
Sodium - 197mg
Cholesterol - 17mg

Meal Plan

Sunday - lunch was mushroom alfredo over rice pasta with diced tomatoes on top, with green beans for The H and asparagus for me; the little guy asked for macaroni and cheese (gluten-free). Dinner was my favorite version of stuffed peppers to date. I mixed a can's worth of pre-cooked-from-dry black beans with some cooked taco-seasoned ground beef, added some frozen corn and more seasonings (cumin, taco, chili powder) then stuffed it into yellow and red bell peppers, topped with cheddar, and baked at 350 for 30min. I added some Frank's RedHot to mine (still trying to kick this congestion!) and it was delicious. The H took a leftover one for lunch today. Even the little guy enjoyed his pepper-less pepper; I mixed some filling with a spoonful of low-fat sour cream and he at the whole bowl. We were shocked!

Monday - not meatless since our lunch yesterday was, and The H requested bacon for our loaded baked potatoes tonight. They'll be topped with broccoli, cheddar, bacon, low-fat sour cream, and salsa. Will serve with peaches and cottage cheese.

Tuesday - chicken barley stew in the CrockPot

Wednesday - buffalo burgers with caramelized onions and sweet potato fries

Thursday - sausage and pepper pizza

Friday - breakfast for dinner! Gluten-free pancakes, eggs, and bacon (co-op pickup is Wednesday, so we'll have a fresh stock of local eggs and meat after that).

Saturday - no plan yet; my parents might come visit and I want to be flexible.