Chiles Rellenos Lightened Up

There is something about stuffed peppers that I adore. Italian style, Greek style, and Spanish style.

Some use meat, others pasta and in this case, cheese.

Most are simply stuffed then baked in a tomato broth of some sort but the Latin ones are deep fried and either baked in a chili sauce or served with the chili sauce underneath. Anything deep fried has got to be good, right?

I saw this version in the June issue of Cooking Light magazine and it intrigued me with yet another technique and being Mojave Desert hot here today, I really did not want to deep fry anything, but sauteing with a quick bake looked doable.

I will use my toaster oven and not heat up my kitchen too much.

I love that it uses cornmeal as the crust because anything corn is a Diabetics best friend and it provides a nice crunch.

I roasted the poblanos last weekend after I grilled the chicken wings.
I like the addition of goat cheese which has less calories and saturated fat than regular milk but a tang that makes the filling interesting.

After doing a comparison between goat, Jack and cream cheese (click pic above) I was very surprised to see that the fat free cream cheese was an "A" whereas the other 2 cheeses were "D" & "F".

Although this is definitely lighter than the original way they make Chiles Rellenos, the next time I make this recipe I will use fat free mozzarella and fat free cream cheese, making this totally healthy.

Chiles Rellenos Made Easy
serves 4
* 4 poblano chiles
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, divided
* 2 tablespoons goat cheese, divided
* 3 large egg yolks
* 3 large egg whites
* 1 1/10 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/4 cup)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons cornmeal
* 1/4 cup canola oil

Preparation:
If you roast your peppers on a grill, skip these next 3 steps and proceed to step 4.
1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. Place poblanos on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 3 inches from heat 8 minutes or until blackened and charred, turning after 6 minutes. Place in a paper bag; fold to close tightly. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile; discard seeds, leaving stems intact.
3. Spoon 1/4 cup Jack cheese and 1 1/2 teaspoons goat cheese in cavity of each chile.
Place them in the freezer for a minimum of 40 minutes. This will stop the cheese from oozing out while you shallow fry the peppers. Rick Bayless taught me that.
4. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly beat egg yolks in a small bowl. Place egg whites in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold egg yolks into egg whites. Combine flour and black pepper in a shallow dish. Place cornmeal in another shallow dish. Dredge poblanos in flour mixture, and dip into egg mixture. Dredge in cornmeal.
5. Heat oil in a large stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until hot; reduce to medium heat. Add coated poblanos to oil; cook 6 minutes or until crisp, turning to cook on all sides. Place chiles on a baking sheet, and bake at 350° for 8 minutes or until cheese melts.

Serve with my version of homemade ancho chili sauce or a good canned enchilada sauce and yellow rice.

Nutrition amount per serving:
* Calories: 297
* Fat: 14.8g
* Saturated fat: 5.8g
* Monounsaturated fat: 4.1g
* Polyunsaturated fat: 1.8g
* Protein: 16.1g
* Carbohydrate: 25.6g
* Fiber: 2.7g
* Cholesterol: 159mg
* Iron: 1.9mg
* Sodium: 562mg
* Calcium: 254mg

Review: These were crunchy, cheesy, spicy and wonderful. The Nudge says that they are as good as the ones he gets in CA at this little Mexican restaurant.
Remember to freeze the stuffed peppers, it really works, thank you Rick!! I will never deep fry another rellenos.

And for dessert..............

....I made a parfait using the last of my berry crisp, sugar free banana pudding (made with 1% milk) and Dream Whip (made with 1% milk).

Total calories : 250

It was too rich, we both left a quarter of it in the glass.