The Hubs was not enthused about this dish at first. He has
this thing about meals without meat. To him, anything that doesn’t have meat in
it is a side dish. So when I informed him that we were making this stuffed
poblano recipe that I found on Chattavore, he did not have high hopes. Well, he
changed his tune after trying them. In fact, his exact words were: “These are actually good!” Shocker! Well, he was
right. The cheesy corn orzo was tasty, and the poblano was nice, although I
wish we had gotten spicier peppers. The real surprise to this dish for me was
two fold. First, the crumbled feta on top added a great burst of flavor. I
didn’t think it would work so well but it was one of my favorite parts. And
then the lime sour cream sauce was a must have. It was tart but not
overpowering. Instead it just really brought all the flavors together. There
are a few steps to this recipe, but I definitely recommend it, especially if
you’re trying to convert a doubtful eater to try something veggie-friendly!
6oz cooked orzo
6 poblanos
½ small onion, diced
1 ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
½ jalapeño, diced
1 ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
4oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
salt and pepper
2oz crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
¼ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup sour cream
juice of one lime
Start by charring the poblanos on your grill or gas flame,
or even under the broiler. Make sure you get good dark color on all sides. Once
they are charred, put them in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let them
sit for 15 minutes. Then comes the tough part—you need to peel the charred skin
off the peppers, then either cut the peppers in half, or just slit one side to
remove the seeds, ribs and stem (this is what I did, and it was kind of a mess
but it turned out good).
Cook the orzo (according to the box) and preheat your oven
to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and then
sauté the onion and jalapeno for 4-6 minutes. Next, whisk in the flour and cook
for a minute before whisking in the milk a little at a time to make a roux. Cook
until it’s thick, which shouldn’t take long if you added the milk slowly, and
then add in the cheese a bit at a time until it’s melted. Then stir in the orzo
and the corn. We used frozen corn and it was totally fine, so don’t hate. Make
sure to taste and season with salt and pepper.
To stuff the peppers, we laid out the peppers in a baking
dish and scooped the orzo mixture into each one. It was less of a stuffing and
more like a… scoop and wrap. But it works. Then sprinkle the tops with crumbled
feta (or queso fresco) and bake for around 25 minutes. Our cheese didn’t get
browned like the instructions said but it looked good to us.
To make the sauce, just mix the lime and sour cream. Add a
little bit of salt to taste. It will definitely be very tart, but it works well
with the full meal. When the peppers have finished baking, top them with the
sauce, and sprinkle with a little cilantro. And get ready to blow some minds!
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