Fiery Stuffed Poblanos

The blog is growing. Steadily, not virally — the steady kind that builds like a savings account, a little more each month. 35,000 followers. The posts that do best are the ones where I'm most honest: the struggle posts, the "I ate cereal for dinner" posts, the "here's what I spent this week" posts with photographed receipts. The recipes are the reason people find me. The honesty is the reason they stay.

I've been posting from the new kitchen, and the contrast with the old apartment kitchen is visible in the photos. More counter space in the background. Better lighting from the window. The food looks the same because the food is the same — same cast iron, same plates, same $4 casseroles — but the setting is different, and the followers noticed. "You got a new kitchen!" "Look at all that counter space!" "She moved!" They're happy for me. The followers are happy that the girl with the receipts and the washing machine prep surface got a kitchen with room to breathe. The happiness of strangers who have watched you struggle is its own kind of blessing.

Food bank curriculum this month: spring vegetables. Teaching families to use fresh produce that comes in seasonally — what to do with a bag of zucchini, how to cook collard greens, the difference between a sweet potato and a yam (there isn't one, in Oklahoma — they're the same thing and I will fight anyone who says otherwise). The classes are full. Waitlisted, even. Twenty families per location, three locations. Sixty families learning to cook with fresh vegetables because a girl from Broken Arrow showed them that a zucchini is not scary. A zucchini is dinner. A zucchini is $0.89 and feeds four people if you know what to do with it.

Teaching the spring vegetable curriculum this month reminded me why I started this blog in the first place — the goal was always to show people that the unfamiliar thing on the produce shelf is just dinner waiting to happen. Poblanos are exactly that: a pepper that looks a little intimidating until you’ve stuffed one and pulled it out of the oven smelling like something you’d pay fifteen dollars for at a restaurant. I’ve been making a version of these in the new kitchen, and the extra counter space means I can actually set up a little assembly line — the way I always wanted to when I was prepping meals on top of the washing machine. This one’s for every family on that waitlist.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 large poblano peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 lb lean ground turkey or beef
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to heat preference)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a large baking dish with nonstick spray or a drizzle of olive oil.
Prep the peppers. Halve the poblanos lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes. Brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil and arrange cut-side up in the baking dish.
Par-roast the peppers. Roast the poblano halves for 10 minutes until just beginning to soften. Remove from oven and set aside. Leave oven on.
Cook the filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground meat, breaking it apart, about 6–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Stir in chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and salt.
Combine. Add the cooked rice, black beans, corn, and drained diced tomatoes with green chiles to the skillet. Stir to combine and cook for 2–3 minutes until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese.
Stuff the peppers. Spoon the filling generously into each par-roasted poblano half, mounding slightly. Top each with the remaining pepper jack cheese.
Bake. Return the dish to the oven and bake for 15–18 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the peppers are tender.
Serve. Let rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime if desired. Serve two halves per person.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fiery Stuffed Poblanos — Teaching Families That a Pepper Is Just Dinner