Steamed chile relleno

A healthy chile relleno? Seriously? That is not really the point of chile rellenos! But this is actually one of our favorite dinners. Nathan loves this. This is not a Tex-Mex relleno, but more traditional. The first time I had this kind of chile relleno was in Guadalajara with my dad and sister. Also similar to the chile rellenos at Z-Tejas in Austin (mmmmm....Z-Tejas!)

Sorry...I'm back. I had to stop and daydream about Z-Tejas for a minute.

So actually, before you stop reading, I will tell you that this is NOT the healthiest dish that I make. But much healthier than the typical so here it goes.

Sunni's Chile Rellenos

• Poblano peppers -- you have to soften these to stuff them. Either blanch or roast them. More fun to roast them--just stick a fork in the stem end and hold them directly over the flame on a gas stove or gas grill. (Maybe why my pyromaniac husband loves this recipe --one way to get him to help with dinner!) If you are making more than 2 you may just want to throw them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes to soften them. Then while they are hot put them in a glass baking dish (just big enough to hold all your peppers) and put a glass lid or saran wrap over them. Set aside to let cool

• Chicken breast--season chicken with season salt, pepper and garlic powder and cook wih a little onion in a skillet with a little olive oil or use leftover grilled or rotisserie chicken. Cut into small bite-sized pieces
• Cheese --cheddar, monterrey jack or blend
• Dried fruit-- apricots, raisins, dried cranberries (some or all)
• Nuts--pecans, walnuts, pine nuts (some or all)

Mix chicken, cheese, fruit and nuts together in a bowl (Hint: don't worry about mixing just the right amount. Make a little more than you need and freeze your mixture in a freezer baggie. Then next time you want chile rellenos you can just grab the mix out of the freezer to stuff your peppers and it saves a lot of time)

After peppers have cooled slightly and steamed a little in the dish, you can cut the stem out with a sharp knife--then just reach in a take out any seeds that are left--you can also rinse them inside and out to help get out all the seeds--then scoop in your meat and cheese mixture (OK, I know the nut and fruit thing sounds a little weird, but it tastes SO GOOD all mixed up with the cheese--oh, I cannot even tell you! I suppose you could just leave out the fruit and nuts, but I do not know why you would!) Also I have used fat free cheese, and it is not bad.

After your chiles are stuffed, put them back in the baking dish and and cover with the lid or the saran wrap. Then just pop them in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Steamed, not fried., and really yummy!

• Sauce--our favorite sauce is just canned verde sauce (Herdez brand--from the Mexican section at the store) mixed with light sour cream or, better yet, Greek yogurt. Just mix them together to the desired consistency and warm it up slightly in the microwave and serve it over the relleno.

You can eat this with beans and rice or just by itself.

What am I going to feed the kids? Probably not this. Tonight, my kids ate cheese quesadillas--they are not big fans of peppers. But they can also eat some of the grilled chicken and they like to dip their chicken and quesadillas in light sour cream. This recipe has a little spice, but not really spicy. Nevertheless, Seth told me tonight that he would never try chile rellenos--oh well, more for me!