okay – yea, not a great photo. We’re working on that over here. Some days when I’m cooking for my clients I just don’t have time to do a great looking professional photo. But these stuffed peppers are so delicious, I had to get them on the site asap.
Vegetable Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Avocado Sauce
Makes 6 stuffed poblano peppers
Ingredients
Roasted tomatoes – get your tomatoes roasting before you prep the other ingredients
6 medium tomatoes, 3/4” dice
sea salt to taste
splash of olive oil
splash of balsamic
small handful (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) Herbs d’Provence or Italian herb blend
6 poblano peppers – tops cut off, keep whole but scoop out seeds.
While the pepper itself isn’t hot, the seeds are. You might want to put on a kitchen glove if you’re using your hands to get some of the seeds out. Or just scrape them out with a spoon. I make sure to get all the seeds out if I’m cooking for someone who doesn’t like a lot of heat.
Sautéed veggies
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, small dice
sea salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ lbs cremini mushrooms
You can either dice these pretty small, which will most likely take a while or quarter them then pop half of them in a food processor at a time and pulse. They will come out much finer in the food processor but it will cut the time to nothing.
splash of either balsamic vinegar, coconut aminos, gluten-free tamari or shoyu
sea salt – to taste
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
½ to 1 teaspoon Zocalo brand organic Aji Limo chili paste
1 small box organic baby spinach
Avocado Dressing
2 ripe avocados
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
Juice of 1 lime
Water – at least 2/3 cup, but possibly more depending on how thin you would like it.
sea salt – to taste
Directions
Heat the oven to 375º F
Roast the tomatoes
Put the tomatoes on a sheet pan, season with sea salt, balsamic, olive oil and the dried herbs.
Roast for at least 45 minutes, checking every 20 minutes or so to turn, using a flat metal spatula (not the rubber ones used for scraping out jars!). Depending on how watery your tomatoes are this could take a little longer.
Roast the poblanos
Place the seeded poblano peppers on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Some people then peel the peppers, but not me. 😉 The skins should look a bit wrinkly when they are done, but the peppers shouldn’t be browning.
When done leave them on the pan, but set to the side.
When the poblanos and tomatoes are done reduce the oven heat to 350° F.
Sauté the veggies
Using a 12 inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil till it shimmers, then add the onions with a little bit of salt. Sauté the onions for up to 15 minutes, until they are rich and creamy, stirring regularly and adding small amounts of water as needed to prevent burning. It’s cooking the onions for a while that helps to make this dish so delicious.
When onions are well cooked add the garlic and cook till you have that lovely garlicky aroma.
Now add the cremini mushrooms, a little more sea salt and a splash of either balsamic vinegar, coconut aminos, gluten-free tamari or organic shoyu.
While the mushrooms are cooking, which will take 10 to 20 minutes, add 1tablespoon cumin, 1 tablespoon dried oregano and ½ to 1 teaspoon aji limo chili paste (if you like a lot of heat go for the 1 teaspoon). Stir the mushrooms regularly while they are cooking.
When your tomatoes are done – they will be shriveled, wrinkly and shouldn’t have too much liquid left in them, add them to the mushroom mixture. Continue to cook on a medium heat until almost all the liquid is gone. I tend to get impatient here and bump the heat up to high but then you have to stay over it stirring so it doesn’t burn.
Stir in the baby spinach and cook till it wilts.
When the veggie mixture has cooled enough for you to work with it without burning yourself stuff the peppers using a large spoon, placing them back on the sheet pan when stuffed
Bake the stuffed peppers
Place the peppers back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. I like the poblanos to still have a little tooth to them – ie: not mushy.
While the stuffed peppers are baking make the avocado dressing.
Avocado Sauce
I’ve found I like this sauce simple and easy. I’ve tried it with garlic and spices but since the peppers are so flavorful I’m happy with the sauce being simple.
Cut the avocados open, remove pit and scrape into a food processor.
Add the cilantro leaves, juice of 1 lime and a little sea salt. Put the lid on and turn on the food processor. While it’s blending, slowly add the water to give you the consistency you would like. Start with 2/3 cup but you might need a bit more.
Serve
Serve the peppers with a bit of the sauce on top and have extra on the side.
Variations on a theme
Don’t feel like taking the time to roast the tomatoes (although it’s well worth the effort)?
Soak 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in hot water then dice up once they are soft and add to the cooking mushrooms. The soaking liquid is full of flavor so either save it for another dish or add it to the veggies, but it will add to the cooking time to reduce the extra liquid.
Or add a 16 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes to the onions and shrooms. But the roasted tomatoes are really the tastiest.
This dish was created for a client of mine who isn’t able to eat dairy, meat, beans or grains. I wanted to create a savory delicious dish for her that would be amazingly satisfying.
However, if you can eat beans, cheese and/or grains add some to this dish when the veggies are done. The beans and grains have to be cooked of course. Remember, if you’re adding those ingredients you will need to reduce the amount of veggies accordingly.
Happy Cooking!
Marilyn
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