Well this recipe has been a long time coming! I’m kind of embarrassed to post something that I made so long ago, but I said I’d share this dish in my last post, and I try to keep my promises as best I can! But before I talk about the dish, I’ll share a little bit about what has kept me away from Tasty Easy Healthy Green for so long…
I’m proud to report that I successfully finished the first year of my PhD program! I spent many nights and weekends studying for my classes, and sometimes felt like the random concoctions that I quickly threw together to eat did not reflect what a PhD student in nutrition should be eating. Now that I have a little more time this summer, I’m hoping to do some more nutritionally-balanced cooking and post those recipes here more often. Graham and I have also gained a new nephew and brother-in-law in the last few months. My sister gave birth to a baby boy in February and Graham’s sister got married in April. We are thrilled to have both Noah and Brian as part of the family! Amongst all the studying and family celebrations we’ve also done a little bit of traveling and managed to fit in a move to a new house! Whew! Like I said, it’s been a busy few months!
Now that you’ve read all of my excuses for being absent, it is probably best to get back to the recipe…I made these baked chilies rellenos for Valentine’s Day, and have to say that it was a bit of an effort! Maybe it was because I was making dessert crepes at the same time I was trying to assemble the rellenos, but I remember being extremely frustrated with getting the panko coating onto the poblano peppers. The peppers kind of fell apart when I stuffed them and the panko didn’t really stick to the peppers that well. I ended up pinning the peppers together with wooden skewers and then dipping them in the egg mixture and panko. The whole process was pretty messy. Because of my frustration, I was tempted to say that I’d never make this dish again, but the flavors were good enough that I may give it another go. However, I think I might make more of a lasagna type dish, where I layer the chiles, filling, cheese and sauce, and then top the whole thing off with some crispy panko crumbs. I’ll let you know if I try it again, and will share any helpful hints I may have for assembling the rellenos…
Tasty Easy Healthy Green Recipe Ratings:
Recipe Report Card | Notes About Recipe Ratings |
Tasty Rating
Four Chefs (Delicious!) |
The smoky sauce, cheesy filling, and crispy panko made this dish a winner! |
Easy Rating Two Easy Chairs (A Long March…) |
As I mentioned above, I was very frustrated with this dish and may not follow the same lengthy and messy procedure to put it together again. |
Healthy Rating Four Apples (Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise) |
Using low-fat cheese and lots of vegetables in the filling, and baking the rellenos instead of frying them made this dish a lot healthier than traditional chiles rellenos. |
Green Rating Two Leaves (Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides Rock) |
I used a few organic ingredients, but most were conventional. |
New house, new family members, and success on PhD program…wow…BIG Congratulations, Sally!
The baked chilies look very flavourful, I love particularly the smoky tomato sauce. Would be great to use it for the pizza or pasta too.
I wish you a great week ahead!
Angie
Any ONE of those excuses would have been enough! Congratulations on it all – the completion of year one, the new family members and the new HOME! How exciting is that? Hopefully you’ll have a few months off before getting back into the grind of school. These rellenos were worth waiting for! Most rellenos around here would get a health rating of about 1/2. These look healthy and very delicious! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to a summer of more healthy recipes.