Baked Chile Rellenos with Quinoa

A twist on the traditional chile rellenos, stuffing the charred poblano with a quinoa mixture keeps them light and adds protein.  The stuffing can be made ahead of time and just fill and bake quickly to heat and melt the cheese!
I have served these as is with a salad dressed with lime and olive oil or with a couple sauces on the side.  Below I have a tomatillo sauce using frozen tomatillos from last years garden but if you have fresh tomatillos all the better!  I've also included a quick corn sauce. 

Served with corn sauce and a cracked coriander lentil salad

makes 4

4 poblano peppers, charred*
3/4 cup prepared quinoa
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup onion, minced
1/3 cup corn
2 scallions, chopped
3 serrano peppers, roasted and sliced (optional)
1/3 cup cilantro
lime
cheese (optional)

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in a skillet until softening, about 3 minutes.  Add corn and continue to saute another few minutes until corn is cooked through.  Add the serrano peppers if using and remove from heat.  Mix in the scallions, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.  Add the quinoa to the mix and combine.  Stuff the poblano peppers.  Top with cheese (manchengo, goat cheese, pepper havarti)

Bake at 350 until heated through and cheese melts (if using)

*Char poblanos: Place whole poblanos over a gas burner, turning as they start to blacken.  When charred on all sides allow to cool so you can handle them and peel the charred skin from the peppers.
Make a vertical slit in the peppers to prepare them to be stuffed.

Tomatillo Sauce
1 1/2 lb frozen tomatillos
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, cut in half
1 TB olive oil

Place all in small roasting pan and bake at 450.  The tomatillos will break down and first this will get quite liquidy, continue to bake until it reduces and becomes a thick sauce.  You could do this on the stove too, but in the oven lets you do other things without worrying about it burning in the pan.

Corn Sauce
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup corn
olive oil
lime
greek yogurt or flax milk, optional

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add corn after a few minutes and cook 5 minutes longer.  Now add a squeeze of lime and a couple TBS water.  Season to taste.  Puree in food processor or blender.  If you like, add some greek yogurt or milk (flax, soy, rice, cows milk) to the desired consistency. 

the tomatillo sauce on the right side of platter