Non-Fried Chile Relleno

Kids may not like this dish, but it is a nice side and relatively easy since it isn't fried or otherwise coated with batter.

I used four large Poblano peppers. You'll also need about 12-16 ounces of the shredded cheese of your choice. I used Cheddar, but any type of pepper cheese or white Mexican cheese will do.

Also needed are:

An aluminium foil lined baking pan. Extra sheet of aluminium foil.

A casserole dish large enough to hold the stuffed peppers.

Some cooking spray or olive oil.

A steak knife.

Put an oven rack on the broiler level and turn your oven to broil. (You can wait until you have prepped your peppers if you wish.)

Core the stem out of your peppers and shake the loose seeds out--some will be left, you can scrape them off later.

Set timer for seven minutes. Place cored Poblanos on the foil lined baking pan/cookie pan. Put in oven and check after about two and a half to three minutes. The entire side of the pepper should be blistered with some charred patches. Turn peppers over and cook for another three minutes or so. The extra timer time allows for the time needed to turn the peppers. 

Remove the peppers and tightly cover them with the extra sheet of foil for about three minutes. This allows the peppers to steam and it makes it easier to remove the skin. Place oven rack on the second shelf and lower heat to 350 degrees.

The peppers will still be a bit hot, but use the steak knife to scrape the charred and blistered skin off the pepper. Do not worry if you can't remove all of it.

Carefully slit one side of the pepper and then open it so that it is flat. Scrape off the extra seeds if you wish:

Put a handful of cheese on top of the pepper and gently fold it over. Spray, liberally, the casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and lay the stuffed pepper on its side. Repeat for the other peppers. Spray the tops of the peppers with cooking spray or drizzle some olive over over the peppers but make sure to smear the oil on the pepper exterior top surface.

Place back in the oven and cook for another 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted.

You can also add sauteed onions to the cheese, but, of course, this will add extra time to the prep. This makes a nice side dish. The cost for the peppers, cheese and the amount of cooking spray and aluminium foil you will use for this is a bit over four dollars and this dish provides a good serving for four people.