Poblano Pepper Cilantro Rice Recipes

MEXICAN GREEN RICE

Steps:

• Roast the poblano peppers in the oven for 20-25 minutes. You can flip them over halfway through the roasting period if you want.
• De-stem and de-seed the poblanos. Add them to a blender along with 10-15 sprigs of cilantro, a handful of spinach, 1/2 onion, and 1 garlic clove. Combine well.
• Add a dollop of oil to a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 cup of rice and cook until opaque and starting to turn golden brown, stirring regularly. This should only take a couple minutes so keep an eye on it to prevent burning.
• Add the blender puree to the rice and cook for a couple minutes, stirring regularly. Add 2 cups of stock and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until all of the liquid is absorbed, approximately 15-20 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Give a stir and cover the rice, letting it sit in its own steam for a few minutes.
• Take a final taste for salt level, adding more if necessary. Serve immediately and store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

GREEN POBLANO RICE

Steps:

• Place chopped peppers and broth into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer 10-12 minutes, or until peppers are tender.
• Allow mixture to cool (if you blend it hot, it will fly out of the blender and burn you), then puree in a blender (broth and all) along with cilantro and salt.
• Place onion and rice into a saucepan with the oil, and cook, stirring, until rice is opaque and onions are tender.
• Add garlic and cook briefly, until it becomes fragrant.
• Stir in broth mixture from the blender.
• Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed.
• Allow to sit with the pan lid on away from heat for 12-15 minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve.

POBLANO RICE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the poblano chiles and saute, about 8 minutes. Mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with the salt and pepper. Add 1 cup broth and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let cool.
• Transfer the mixture to a blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure the liquid yield from the blender, adding more chicken broth if necessary to yield 2 total cups of poblano liquid. Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Meanwhile, clean the skillet, place over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Fry the rice until slightly golden. Pour the poblano puree into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cover tightly. Cook for 30 minutes, turn off the heat and let rest for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

POBLANO RICE

Steps:

• Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute peppers in butter until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add onion powder and garlic powder. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add rice and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until rice is tender and fluffy, about 12 minutes.

GREEN POBLANO RICE (ARROZ VERDE AL POBLANO)

Steps:

• The flavoring: In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the broth and chiles, bring to a boil, then partially cover and simmer gently over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the chiles are very soft. Pour the chile mixture into a food processor, add the cilantro (stems and all), and process to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a bowl and stir in the salt.
• The rice: Wipe the pan clean, add the oil and heat over medium. Add the rice and onion, and cook, stirring regularly, until the rice is chalky looking and the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook a minute longer.
• Add the warm (or reheated) chile liquid to the hot rice pan, stir once, scrape down any rice kernels clinging to the side of the pan, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Uncover and check a grain of rice: It should be nearly cooked through. If the rice is just about ready, turn off the heat, re-cover and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes longer to complete the cooking. If the rice seems far from done, continue cooking for 5 minutes or so, retest, then turn off the heat and let stand a few minutes longer. Fluff with a fork, scoop into a warm serving dish, decorate with cilantro sprigs and it's ready to serve.
• Advance preparation: The rice can be made several days ahead; turn out the fluffed rice onto a baking sheet to cool, transfer to a storage container, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat the rice in a steamer basket set over boiling water.
• Variations and improvisations: An obvious variation is to use 3 or 4 long green (Anaheim) chiles, or to mix poblanos and long greens with hotter chiles like jalapeño, manzano or habanero. Grilled corn cut from 1 cob or 1 large grilled zucchini (cubed) are tasty vegetable add-ins. About 1 cup coarsely shredded roast (or barbecued) pork or smoked salmon, mixed in toward the end of cooking, will make green rice a full meal.

POBLANO GREEN RICE

Steps:

• Seed the poblano peppers, then rough chop them along with the onion. (Size is not super important, as we are going to purée them.) In a medium pot, add the vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and cook until the onions start to turn clear and all the veggies have some light caramelization. Transfer the mixture to a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, and pulse until the mixture is puréed thoroughly, about 2 minutes.
• In a medium pot, combine the vegetable stock, rice and pepper mixture. Stir well and bring to a boil. Drop down to a simmer, then cover and allow to cook until the rice is fluffy and the majority of the liquid has been absorbed, 18 to 20 minutes.
• Fold in the cilantro right before serving.