JPs Poblanos Chili Casserole
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
3 cans beans (black, kidney, pinto, northern, whatever)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt/pepper to taste
4 poblano peppers
1 can refried beans
2 burrito-sized tortillas
Heat up your broiler and put the washed, whole poblano peppers on a cookie sheet. Broil 5 minutes on each side or until skin is blistered all over. Remove from oven and put peppers in a brown paper bag (sealed) for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, you will be using the first eight ingredients above to make a basic chili, so if you have a recipe for chili that you would prefer, do it instead.
Chili: Sauté garlic, onion, and green pepper in large pot until softened. Add tomatoes, chili powder, and cumin and bring to a boil. Stir in (drained) beans, salt, and pepper, and simmer/boil while you prepare the rest of the casserole.
The rest of the casserole: Peel the skin off of the poblanos peppers, remove the stem and seeds, and slice once so as to make each pepper lay flat. Spray/grease a 9x13 casserole dish and line the bottom with the tortillas. Spread the refried beans on top, and then put the peppers on top of that. Spread your chili on the very top (you'll likely have some leftover, which is always a plus) and bake at 350 for about 10 to 15 minutes. Enjoy hot.
My husband actually invented this recipe, and I was really proud and wanted to share it. We used one can each of black, pinto, and great northern beans, and he suggested that adding a drained can of corn to the chili mixture would be a nice addition, too. Were not big vegan cheese eaters, but if you like soy vegan cheese, etc., that might be good on top.
We hope you like it!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
The dish was good. I added veggie crumbles to the chili and corn. I also used diced tomatoes with green chiles. I had brought some vegan cheddar cheese called TEESE and shredded it on top. I wish I would have left it off. I think next time I will use tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips on top and maybe some fried onions. Overall it was good but next time I will leave the Teese cheese off.
Just when I said I would leave the Teese Cheese off my son said he liked it. So maybe I will keep the Teese Cheese but add crushed tortillas and fried onions.
Thanks for giving me a good recipe to play with. :)
I just wanted to add another little tip. We have found that the poblano peppers can really vary in hotness -- from fairly mild to absolutely scorching (JP has a very unscientific theory that the smaller ones are the hottest); I think this recipe would also work well and would be more reliably mild by substituting green bell peppers (roast them the same way I guess) or it could be interesting with roasted red bell peppers. Of course, I love spicy hot hot hot, so we'll probably keep on with the poblanos.... but maybe with the variation, a wider tasting audience could enjoy it. :)