"Chile Rellenos," Spanish "Rice" and "Refried" Beans

Said in the voice of Chandler: Could this blog title have any more quote marks? But, they're all used correctly. I don't belong on the "Blog" of "Unnecessary Quote Marks".

This is what I make sometimes when I'm tired of regular ol' tacos or burritos for dinner but still want "Mexican" food. They are a take on chile rellenos, which is a lovely dish wherein mild-ish peppers are roasted, filled with filling (usually cheese) and breaded and fried. Since "breaded and fried" rarely takes place at Chez Stadium, I did everything except for this step.

First off, I roasted the chiles under the broiler, roatating as each side got blistered.

See?
After they were done in the oven, I put them in a bowl and put the baking pan on top of the bowl so they would steam right out of their skins.

Then I made some Spanish "rice." The rice was actually quinoa. Normally I would just make brown rice, but we were out. So quinoa it was! I sauteed some vegetables, added the cooked quinoa and then squirted tomato paste and spices like cumin, chile powder, paprika and S&P into it to make a very flavorful dish that tasted pretty damn close to Mexican rice. Go me!

Quinoa close-up!
For the "refried" beans, I simply warmed up some pinto beans, then mashed them with a potato masher until they turned creamy, then added some chicken stock to thin them out a bit.

Ok, I know my photography skillz are severly lacking, but I bet even the Pioneer Woman couldn't make refried beans look nice in a photo.

Hmm... here is a picture of a Full Sail beer. I don't remember why I photographed this! I bet it was because I cooked some chicken in it in my Crockpot. But don't hold me to that. Just enjoy this lovely picture of a beer!

And here is the cooked chicken I used to stuff the rellenos. It is mixed with the aforementioned spices, chipotles, corn and some wilted spinach. I heaped all of this into the roasted chiles after peeling off the skin (the steaming part is really necessary to do this easily). Then I garnished with avocado and sour cream for me (Cookie Monster doesn't like sour cream. Do you think he's a communist?).

Oh yeah. I made these. Always rocks with salt. Or in this case, shaken with rocks so it gets cold.

Lovely plate o' food. "Refried" beans, "chile rellenos" and Mexican "rice," with some warm tortillas on the side.
Ole!