Vegan MoFo Day 18: Stuffed Poblanos

About a week or two ago, I went to a local Latino grocery store to get the corn tortillas and salsa I used for the enchiladas (they're always better tasting and cheaper) on day 11. While I was there, I saw that the poblanos were on sale for 99 cents a pound, so I picked up a few to stuff.

I created this mainly to use up some of the leftovers I had in the fridge, so it calls for leftover chili. If you didn't make chili recently, you can use a canned chili or just some beans and tomatoes; it's a pretty versatile recipe. For the vegetables, just use a mix of whatever you have on hand. I used a small handful of frozen peas and a small head of fresh broccoli.

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup mixed veggies
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup leftover pumpkin chili
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
A few pinches of cinnamon
4 poblano peppers
1 cup daiya (Pepperjack is my fave, but if you use cheddar or mozz style, I won't judge you)
vegetable broth, as needed

Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add in jalapeno and veggies. Cook until all the vegetables are tender. If it starts to stick now, or at any point during cooking, just add a couple of splashes of vegetable broth and mix around. Add the rice, chili, pumpkin, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally, another 5 minutes to let the flavors blend. Taste for spices (it may need more cinnamon or salt, depending on the chili) and let cool.

Meanwhile, cut a T shape into each poblano, hold it open to remove the seeds. Repeat with each pepper. Hold the pepper open once again and spoon in the filling. It should be very full so that it stays open with the filling poking out a bit. Place in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle daiya over each pepper and bake 30-40 minutes, until cheese is melted and peppers are soft.

Makes enough filling to stuff 4 kitten-tail-long peppers