Rajas: Creamy Poblano Strips with Potatoes
Roasted poblano strips swimming in a creamy sauce will make the perfect side dish. I add potatoes and some stock to turn it into a meal -- so good!
Servings: 6
Calories: 153kcal
Ingredients
- 6 poblano peppers (approx. 1.5 pounds)
- 1 onion
- 1 potato
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
- Cotija cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Give the poblanos a good rinse and then roast them in a 400F oven for 20-30 minutes. I usually flip them over halfway through the roasting period.
- Finely cube a potato and add it to salted, boiling water in a saucepan over high heat. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until the potatoes are 'al dente', still slightly firm and not quite cooked all the way through.
- When the poblanos are done roasting let them cool down for a few minutes and then remove as much skin as you can. De-stem and de-seed the poblanos. Cut them lengthwise into strips and then cut the strips in half; you'll end up with bite-sized poblano strips.
- Thinly slice an onion and saute it in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. I also added a tablespoon of butter but this is optional.
- Cook the onion until soft and just starting to brown, approx. 7-8 minutes. Add 2 minced cloves of garlic and give the garlic a brief saute, 30 seconds or so. Add the poblano strips and cook briefly until everything is at a uniform temp.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt, some freshly cracked black pepper, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup of stock. (Note: you can skip the stock and use all cream if you want, anywhere from 3/4 cup to 1 cup of cream will do the job.)
- Once the liquid is simmering, add the parboiled potatoes. Combine well and simmer for another 5 minutes or so.
- Take a final taste for seasoning. I added another generous pinch of salt to this batch.
- Serve immediately as is or you can create some on-the-fly tacos. For tacos, simply add the Rajas to warm corn tortillas and top with Cotija cheese.
Notes
You can skip the potatoes if you want as Rajas are typically served without them.
I used the oven to roast the poblanos, but you could also char them over open flame or use a broiler.
Steaming the roasted poblanos in a sealed Ziploc will make it easier to pull off the skin, but I usually skip the Ziploc step.
Nutrition
Calories: 153kcal