Poblano chilies with black beans and cheese

Yield: 8 Servings

Measure Ingredient
8 larges Poblano chilies
1 tablespoon Olive oil
3 cups Thinly sliced onions
2 cans (15-16 oz) black beans; rinsed and drained
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 cup Reduced-fat grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 4 oz)
\N \N Tomato salsa
½ cup Fat free sour cream

>From Bon Appetit Sept 1997 (p 197) Preheat broiler. Arrange chilies on a baking sheet and broil until charred on all sides, turning occassionally -about 20 minutes. Enclose in paper bag and let stand 10 min, to make skin easier to remove. Peel chilies. Cut one lengthwise slit in each chili and carefully remove the seeds. Meanwhile heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and saute until golden, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread onions evenly in 13x9x2 glass baking dish (this provides a bed to keep the chilies from sticking and burning, along with adding flavor).

Preheat oven to 350F. Mash half the beans with the cayenne in a medium bowl. Mix in remaining beans. Spoon mixture into chilies. Arrange chilies, seam side down, atop the onions. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil (can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled at this point). Bake chilies, covered, 15 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes or so, until the cheese melts.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.

OK, I would probably skip the char and peel with the smaller chilies. And just stuff them with cheese, or a mixture of cheese and cream cheese. I would only make a small slit to do this, to avoid problems with losing the filling. To get a crust without deep frying, I would dip them in beaten egg, then roll them in crumbs. Flavoring the crumbs with a bit of cayenne or using finely crushed tortilla chips instead of crumbs would be nice touches. I probably wouldn't bother with the onion bed, but would grease the pan well instead. And lay them in it slit side up to keep the cheese filling in. And probably bake them uncovered (probably about the same 15-20 minutes), to keep the crumbs crisp and melt the filling. Spraying a bit of margarine or oil on first would add a bit of extra crispy crunch. Posted to EAT-L Digest by Kim Malo <kmalo19@...> on Aug 28, 1997

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