Chiles rellenos and cilantro-lime rice (Father's Day)

Chiles Rellenos from Dave Harker
via Home Companion August 2002
(recipe posted below)


Cilantro-Lime Rice from Allrecipes


Our family has always loved the chile relleno. I remember when I was little my mom would always order it at Mexican restaurants, and at the time, I would just take a little taste, because that was when I was afraid of spicy food. Haha...

Anyway, for Father's Day lunch my sister suggested this chile relleno recipe with a twist: instead of breading, you use egg-roll wrappers as the crispy outer layer. I have to say, it was a lot easier than breading 11 chiles, and it was absolutely delicious. Really really good. Yum. Everyone loved it.

Along with it we served cilantro-lime rice, which my sister made and which is one of her favorite side dishes for Mexican food. Also good. For dessert I made a strawberry pie, which I will share soon in a follow-up post. :)

For now, here is the Chiles Rellenos recipe credited to chef Dave Harker (apparently Home Companion is no longer published...hmmm).


Chiles Rellenos
makes 6

6 poblano chiles
2 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 C sun-dried tomatoes, softened in warm water, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
1/2 C plus 3 TB chopped cilantro
2 TB shredded fresh basil
1 package egg roll wrappers
2-3 C tomato sauce
1 C vegetable oil, plus more as needed

(The chiles should be skinned to remove the tough outer skin. To do this easily, place them on a sheet of aluminum foil or broiler pan and blister under a preheated broiler, turning occasionally, until browned. Have a bowl of ice water nearby, and, when peppers are charred, place them into the water. Let them cool just briefly and then remove them and carefully peel off the skin. Try your best not to tear the chiles, but it's almost inevitable so don't worry about it. If chiles are ripped, they can be salvaged. Carefully split the chiles up one side without removing the stem. Gently rinse out the seeds. Drain the chiles cut side down on paper towels.)

Meanwhile, combine cheese-sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, 1/2 C of the cilantro, and basil. Place stuffing inside chiles and carefully fold the edges closed, overlapping the edges slightly. They may not look too pretty at this point, but the wrapper will mask this.

Open egg roll wrapper package on two sides and remove one wrapper at a time. Cover chiles, leaving stem exposed.

Meanwhile heat 1-2 C of tomato sauce in a saucepan until hot.

Pour oil into a frying pan to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Heat oil on medium heat. When hot, fry the chiles, several at a time, gently turning them until they are browned on all sides. Adjust heat so they don't burn, adding extra oil as needed. When browned, place on paper towels to drain. Serve immediately on top of tomato sauce and garnish with the remaining 3 TB of cilantro.

Creamy chicken caliente

Creamy Chicken Caliente

Ok so I couldn't think of a good name for this. Haha... I made this for dinner the other night, and I was basically just grabbing random things and throwing them on the stove. It turned out decently tasty. So here it is.

Quite frankly, I can't remember the exact quantities of everything I put in, so I'm not going to risk listing a recipe here. However I will describe it generally, so if it strikes your fancy, it should be very easy to replicate it according to your taste.

I took frozen chicken fajita strips and put them in a pan on low-medium heat. After a few minutes I added about 3/4 c low-fat sour cream, and about 1/2 c Pace picante sauce. I chopped up a jalapeño and threw that in there, along with a small can of shoepeg corn. I just warmed it enough so the chicken got hot...can't overheat it or the sour cream mixture will get too soupy.

In the meantime, I toasted whole-wheat tortillas in a skillet on high-heat. No oil needed....just toast each side for a few minutes, and they should get browned and crispy. I also used some corn tortillas. To serve, I spooned the chicken mixture over the tortilla, and added some chopped tomatoes, onions, and more jalapeños.

As for how to eat it, it's up to you. You can spoon the sauce over the tortilla and roll it up, or you can break up the tortilla, mix it all up and eat it with a fork.

Frozen yogurt and chile relleno casserole

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt from David Lebovitz
1/2 c for 127 calories

Chile Relleno Casserole from Peertrainer.com
6 servings for 288 calories each

I first tasted Pinkberry frozen yogurt when my family visited Hollywood two summers ago. Since then we have tried to find a frozen yogurt that is comparable. The frozen yogurt with berries at Central Market comes pretty close. Well then I found this recipe, and this is the closest thing yet.

I will definitely make this again, and double it, because there was not enough to go around with 7 people. I will use a little less sugar next time. We topped ours with white chocolate chips, but pretty much any fruit, nut, or chocolate topping will taste good with this yogurt.

The chile relleno casserole was a recipe that I found randomly, when I was looking for tips on how to make a low-calorie chile relleno. (Although it's made from a very large chile, at Mexican restaurants it's usually stuffed brimming, overflowing with cheese....and usually has at least 600 calories.) I've never heard of peertrainer.com but this recipe was good, so I might look to see if they have other tantalizing recipes.

Enchiladas

Here's some enchiladas based on this recipe from Hungry Girl.

I basically stuck to the recipe, but changed a few ingredients. I changed the refried beans to mashed up black beans, and added soy meat crumbles. Plus, I straight up used Mexican blend shredded cheese instead of the fat-free kind.

I do not condone using fat-free shredded cheese, because you know what? It tastes like plastic. It looks like plastic. I don't want plastic on my enchiladas. That's just my personal preference. Take a look at the Hungry Girl photo. That enchilada looks like it's covered with yellow hot glue. But by all means, use it if you're desperate to chop off some calories. EDIT: Or of course you could use reduced fat. Nothing wrong with that. Usually.

In total, I estimate there's about 260 calories per enchilada after the changes. But they're very filling. I say have yourself a bit of guacamole, a little salad, and you've got a meal.