My husband, Robert, loves Chile Rellenos and has been asking me to make a healthy, vegan version for a long time. Not an easy thing to do. How do you make peppers stuffed with cheese, dipped in an egg batter, and then deep-fried without animal products? Well, I came up with these from reading, devising, and then just going for it, after many months.
Ok, these Vegan Stuffed and Roasted Poblano Peppers are very different from traditional Chile Rellenos, but do have the great flavors of the roasted Poblano peppers, hearty, comfort-food filling, and a rich, Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce and Easy Enchilada Sauce.
Then, top them with creamy, fresh avocado and chopped cilantro and they are pretty spectacular.
They are filling, yet don’t weigh you down like the fried, cheese filled version. They have multiple layers of flavors, so your taste buds won’t be bored. Smokey, spicy, earthy, and savory!
The first step is to roast your poblanos in the oven to build that smoky, rich flavor.
The filling begins with a quick sauté of the onion and jalapeño.
Add cooked brown rice, Easy Enchilada Sauce, cumin, and salt.
Toss in the rinsed and drained black beans.
Gently stuff each roasted pepper with the filling.
Place a dollop of my Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce on each stuffed pepper.
Served with a fresh green salad and extra Easy Enchilada Sauce.
Vegan Stuffed and Roasted Poblano Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 Poblano peppers
- 1 T. Grapeseed oil Or any high-heat oil
- 3/4 C. Brown Basmati rice
- 5 C. Water
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Jalapeno minced
- 1/2 t. Cumin
- 1/4 t. Sea salt
- 1 15 oz. black beans, canned drained and rinsed
- 1/2 C. Homemade enchilada sauce or use more, if you like
- 1 1/4 C. Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
- 1/4 C. Cilantro chopped
- 1 Avocado sliced
- Salsa your favorite
Instructions
Roasted Poblano Peppers
- Rinse and dry your Poblano peppers.
- Rub each pepper with a light coating of grape seed oil and place on a cookie sheet.
- Place in a hot oven on broil with the rack at or near the top of the oven. Every few minutes carefully rotate the peppers to get a nice char or blistering of the skin. You are looking for a blackened skin on most sides of the pepper, but you don’t want the peppers to be too soft and over-cooked. Make sure the peppers still hold their shape because they will continue cooking after they come out of the oven. This should take 8-10 minutes or so.
Brown Basmati Rice
- Place rinsed rice in a medium-sized pot and add water. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, remove lid and stir. Cook for 30 minutes uncovered.
- Drain rice with a strainer and place rice back into the pot and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes before fluffing rice with a fork.
Pepper Stuffing
- In a large fry pan, add oil and onion. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
- Add jalapeño, cumin, salt and enchilada sauce and sauté for an additional minute.
- Next, add beans and gently incorporate. Remove from heat.
Assembling Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- Place roasted, slightly cooled peppers in a baking dish.
- Slice into the pepper from top to bottom so you can get the filling in.
- If you are sensitive to the heat of the peppers, remove seeds and veins. I leave both, because we like it a little spicy.
- Spoon the rice and bean mixture into each pepper to fill them up.
- Spoon more enchilada sauce and nacho cheese sauce onto each pepper.
- Place in an oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. All you need is everything to warm through and the cheese to brown slightly.
- Serve with avocado, cilantro, and more sauce if you like.
Notes
If you try my Vegan Stuffed and Roasted Poblano Peppers, please let me know in the comments.
Mahalo!
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