Chile Rellenos with Guacamole Quinoa

Riding the wave of all the positive feedback on the tacos (they are quite delicious, if you haven't tried them yet!), I decided to follow up with my other favorite way to eat vegetables: Chile Rellenos with Guacamole Quinoa.

First of all, these are not the deep fried, egg laden chile rellenos you may find in the local taco shop.  These are quite literally "filled chiles" -- filled with veggie-meat goodness, that is!

Step 1: Chile Rellenos

Start with

5 Poblano Peppers

Place peppers directly under the broiler.  Rotate as the chiles blacken, so all sides are roasted and have good color.  Set aside.  Turn oven to 425 degrees.  Then start to assemble the filling:

1 lb ground beef
salt and pepper
2 t cumin or two of cumin
1 t oregano

Saute the ground beef in a large pot or braiser.  While this is working, chop:

1 cup bella mushrooms
2 or 3 cloves garlic
1 red onion
1 jalapeno
(Esentially the same as the taco meat from two posts below, this is a great vehicle for all kinds of veggies -- I've even added spinach or carrots!)

Add to ground beef and cook over medium heat until veggies are tender and meat is cooked through.  Then add: one can of:

1 15 oz can of Fire roasted tomatoes

Turn heat to low.

Return to peppers and strip off as much skin as you can.  Make a slit in the flesh of the pepper without piercing it through.  Take a small spoon (tiny really, I use my daughter's toddler spoon), and CAREFULLY remove the seeds and ribs attempting to keep the pepper in one piece.  If it rips a bit, no biggie -- it will still taste delicious!

One this is done, transfer the peppers to a large baking dish (I use my 9.5x11 cake pan) and spoon the filling into the peppers They should definitely be overflowing with ground beef-veggie goodness.  One this is done, top with just enough

pepper jack cheese

to cover the meat.  Place the chile rellenos in back in the oven at 425 degrees until the cheese is browned and the meat mixture is bubbling.  Remove from heat and garnish with

Fresh, whole leaves of cilantro

Step 2: Guacamole Quinoa

Heat in a medium sized pot (with lid):

2 c chicken stock
1 bay leaf

Bring to a boil, then add:

1 c quinoa (I buy quinoa in bulk from Costco, awesome deal, and it's DELISH)

Return to a boil, then cover and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes (or until all water has been absorbed).  Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and let sit COVERED for 15 minutes.  (Lesson learned: ensure NO steam is escaping from your pot while it is sitting for those 15 minutes!  My husband had insisted he didn't like quinoa for the longest time, until I realized the lid I was using had a vent and the grain was not steaming properly.  Once I closed the vent, the quinoa miraculously turned out perfectly light and fluffy!)  Pour quinoa into a medium sized bowl and add:

one diced tomato
1-2 handfuls of chopped cilantro (depending on your taste)
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper if you need it, I actually don't end up using it due to all the flavor imparted with the bay leaf and chicken stock)

Mix ingredients together.  To serve, spoon quinoa over

1/2 avocado, sliced

Step 3: Enjoy another Mexican-inspired foodiva dinner.  Y-U-M!