Meatless Monday: Enchilada-Style Beer-Braised Black Bean & Cheese Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Omg, you guys. I've been SO terrible at keeping up on the blogosphere. It makes me sad. I hope you can forgive me.
Apologies aside, I've got a new #MeatlessMonday recipe for you. I adapted Cookie + Kate's Beer Bean-Stuffed Poblanos (I LOVE her site, so many great vegetarian recipes) to start, and then baked them enchilada style, bathed in more cheese and salsa. Cause I mean, come on, who doesn't love a good ol' cheese and salsa bath?!
Speaking of cheese, please get your hands on a block of this Cabot Creamery Catamount Hills Cheese, found specifically at Whole Foods. It's a cheddar cheese, but is described as having flavors of Parmesan and Swiss. This sounds weird, but it reminds me of the cheese powder in Kraft mac and cheese, but in the best possible way. It's so flavorful and delicious, you'd think it was artificial and bad for you, but turns out, it's just effing amazing. This guy thinks so, too. It's been on sale quite a bit at Whole Foods, so a block of it was only ~$3. I also made a spinach mac and cheese with it and it knocked my socks off. Literally. Sockless.
Enchilada-Style Beer-Braised Black Bean & Cheddar Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Prepration Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2
For the beans:
1 tsp. butter or olive oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 15-oz. can of black beans, rinsed & drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 12-oz. bottle/can of light beer
1-2 tbsp. adobo/chipotle sauce
1 tbsp. double-concentrated tomato paste
1-2 tsp. maple syrup
splash of your favorite hot sauce (optional; I used Valentina)
1 medium, ripe tomato, diced
tops of poblano peppers, diced (see below)
handful of chopped cilantro
For the peppers:
olive oil or cooking spray
4 poblano peppers, tops & inside rinds removed -- dice the very top parts that you remove & add to beans
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 c. salsa of your choice
Greek yogurt or sour cream, to serve
brown or white rice spritzed with lime juice, to serve
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the tops off the poblano peppers and dice the tops. Set aside.
2. Heat butter or oil in a large sauce pot over medium heat. Add diced onions and cook until they soften. Add black beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, garlic powder and cinnamon. Saute for about 10 minutes. Once the pot gets a little dry, add in about half of the beer to deglaze the pan. Once it has sizzled and cooked off a bit, add in the chiptole sauce, tomato paste, maple syrup, hot sauce tomatoes and the diced tops of the poblano peppers. Stir and simmer over low to medium heat until the beans are soft, adding more beer as needed so the mixture doesn't dry out. You don't want the beans to be soupy, so if you've added too much liquid, continue to simmer until it thickens to a bit creamier of a consistency. Once the beans have reached this point, remove from heat and cover.
3. Spray a baking dish large enough to fit the peppers with cooking spray, or coat with a little bit of olive oil. Pour a layer of salsa into the baking dish. Add a spoonful or so of the shredded cheese to the very bottom of each poblano pepper, packing it in the best you can (gotta make room for those beans!). Fill each of the peppers with the bean mixture, leaving a tiny bit of room at the top. Stuff with more cheese; it's okay if they're kind of overflowering. Once each of the peppers is filled, set in baking dish atop salsa. Pour more salsa over the peppers and top with more shredded cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and browned. Serve with topped with Greek yogurt and a side of rice, if desired.
