Ok you guys. I know I’ve been absent for awhile now – again. But the recipe I’m sharing with you today is more than worth the wait, I promise!!
It’s been a busy couple of weeks with bridal showers, 2 dress fittings – one of which caused a bridezilla-worthy, tear-filled meltdown by yours truly, and a zillion other little things I can’t even think of at the moment. But on the bright side, I put in my notice at my second job and as of the end of this month I will be done with that. It was a good 9 months there, but this girl needs her nights back!! And you know, the whole wedding planning thing, too. Can you believe we’re just 45 days away from the BIG DAY?!?! I can’t. I mean…waiting for it, planning for it for all these months and months, and here we are a mere 6 weeks away. I’m beside myself with excitement, but in true Jaida fashion, with all that planning, inadvertently comes stress and worry. It’s a part of my DNA I’m afraid. I know it will be an amazing day and at the end of it, even if there are some hiccups, I will be married to my bestest friend. Mush mush mush. I know, I know.
So hows about I tell you about this amazing leetle stuffed pepper instead? I love shrimp, no doubt about that, but J is sort of hit or miss about it. Basically it needs to be coated and/or covered in a sauce and then he loves it. So…smother it in a creamy sauce and stuff it in a poblano pepper? Anything for you, dear! I even kept the onions (which I don’t like) and celery (which he doesn’t usually like) in it this time and we both loved it! I mean, it has cream cheese it in too, so what’s not to love??? Not a single, solitary bite. It takes a little time with cooking the shrimp, cutting it up then making the sauce. But not too much time. Not so much time that it is not still feasible for a weeknight dinner.
Oh, and that crunchy panko on top?? Perfect with the creamy filling!!
Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers
As seen on Taste of Home
Ingredients
- 4 large poblano peppers
- Cooking spray
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, cooked and chopped
- 1-3/4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup Panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Cut peppers in half lengthwise and discard seeds. Place peppers, cut side down on the prepared baking sheet, spray lightly with cooking spray, and season with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until tender.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese until it’s melted, then add the shrimp, cheese , rice, lemon juice, cilantro and seasonings. Cook until heated through.
- Remove peppers from oven (leave the oven on 350) and carefully flip over (still on the baking sheet) so the cut side is facing up. Spoon a generous amount of the shrimp mixture into each of the pepper halves.
- Combine the panko, Parmesan and melted butter in a bowl and stir well. Spoon a good amount over each of the filled pepper halves. Bake, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until topping is golden brown.
Leave a Reply