Chicken Chile Rellenos with Cilantro Lime Crema and Tomato Avocado Salad

Two lousy taco shells. That was my inspiration for these chicken chile rellenos. We had tacos a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t eat the last two shells. And they sat there in our microwave just taunting me. (We use the microwave as a bread box for open things like bread and chips — I learned that one from my dad.) I really hate wasting food, but what were we going to do with two lonely taco shells because they certainly weren’t enough for a full meal!

♥ Related: Poblano Crab Dip

And then I thought that if I whizzed them in the mini food processor, the tortilla dust would make a great coating for oven-fried chicken. And wouldn’t that chicken be even better if it were stuffed with poblano peppers and cheese? Think of chicken chile rellenos as a Mexican-style version of chicken Cordon Bleu.

Poblanos are my favorite pepper because they’re usually packed with some heat, but they don’t melt your face off. The poblanos we used for this dish were nearing jalapeno levels on the Scoville scale, so we were very happy to have the crema to mellow out the heat.

♥ Related: Jalapeno Popper Macaroni & Cheese

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Chicken Chile Rellenos with Cilantro Lime Crema and Tomato Avocado Salad

Crispy chicken breasts stuffed with poblano peppers and cheese with a cooling, creamy lime crema and fresh avocado salsa.

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Keyword Avocado, Cheese, Chicken, Poblano Peppers, Tomatoes

Servings 2

Ingredients

Stuffed Chicken

• 2 poblano peppers
• 3 oz pepper jack cheese grated
• 1 scallion sliced
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 crunch corn tortilla shells process to a fine powder in the food processor

Cilantro Lime Crema

• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 lime juice
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 scallion chopped
• ½ cup cilantro chopped

Avocado Tomato Salad

• 20 grape tomatoes cut in half
• ½ cup cilantro chopped
• 2 scallions chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• ½ avocado diced
• 1 lime juice

Instructions

Stuffed Chicken

• Heat he oven to 450 degrees.
• Prepare the poblano peppers by cooking directly over the flame of your cooktop. Use tongs to rotate the pepper often until the entire pepper is charred. If you don’t have a gas range, you can do this on your broiler. Put the peppers on a baking sheet, and place under the broiler on high. Check every couple of minutes and rotate with tongs so until the entire pepper is charred.
• Place charred peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (this will allow steam to make the skins easier to peel off.) Once the poblanos have cooled a bit, remove the skin by rubbing with your fingers — you don’t have to be perfect about it. I think a little char adds a bit of extra flavor. Also remove the stem and seeds. I like to rinse under running water to get all of the seeds out.
• Prepare the chicken by pounding with a meat mallet. To do this, place a large piece of plastic wrap over your chicken breast. Pound the chicken out until it’s doubled to tripled in surface area and about 1/4 inch thick. Pound out your second chicken breast. Don’t worry too much if there are a couple of holes in the chicken. The pepper will help create a barrier between the chicken and cheese.
• To build each stuffed chicken breast, place a roasted pepper on top of one of your chicken breasts. You might need to trim it so it fits. Sprinkle the cheese in the middle and the scallions. Roll the chicken up and tuck in the ends. Do the same with the second chicken breast.
• Create a breading station. I use cake pans. Fill one with the flour and spices. Fill a second with the egg — beat it until it’s scrambled well. Fill the third pan with the tortilla dust.

  Coat the chicken in the flour mixture. Then coat in egg. And finally coat with tortilla dust.
• Place each roll on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes — or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Cilantro Lime Crema

• Mix the sour cream, lime juice, honey, scallion, and cilantro in a small bowl. Stir until well combined.

Avocado Tomato Salad

• Toss the tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well. Add the avocado and lime juice (so that it coats the avocado to help keep it from turning brown.) Gently fold into the avocado.

Serve

• To serve the chicken, I put a dollop of cream on the plate, then the chicken, and then topped with the avocado salad.