Before I started medical school I was perfectly content spending a lot of time in the kitchen each day. It was relaxing, and I had the time to make whatever recipe I saw or thought up. Now, while I still love being in the kitchen, I just don’t have the same amount of time for it. In order to still be able to cook and eat the food that I really want to, I have had to get a little more creative and resourceful with the time I put into recipes.
Over the last few years, I have picked up a number of tricks to make sure we had a wholesome homemade dinner on our table each night. I have adjusted many of my recipes to become freezer friendly (you will notice notes about freezing in many of my recipes), have become better at planning meals ahead of time for the week around our busy schedule, and have learned to be more efficient in prepping ingredients in advance.
One of my favorite tricks for fast weekday meals is to prep some ingredients during the weekend when I have a little more time. Rather than prepping multiple components for multiple meals, I try to plan my recipes around the same ingredients so that both grocery shopping and prepping are streamlined. The trick to this, of course, is making the recipes different enough so you don’t get bored. This is the first post in a series “1 batch, 3 recipes” in which I show you three unique recipes that can come together quickly during the week with a little prep of one ingredient upfront.
And after that long introduction…on to roasted poblanos (sometimes the grocery store labels them as pasilla peppers). They are one of my favorite ingredients to work with. Smokey and mild, I have found these to be incredibly versatile for meals.
Grab 4 poblanos, roast them up, then use them to make these 3 delicious recipes:
1. Apple, Pepita, and Queso Fresco Salad with Roasted Poblano Vinaigrette.
2. Roasted Poblano and White Cheddar Soup.
3. Queso Fundido with Roasted Poblano Vinaigrette.
You will use two peppers for the poblano soup and two for the roasted poblano vinaigrette (which will actually serve double duty for the salad and queso fundido).
Check back this week for the recipes!
- 4 poblano peppers
- Preheat broiler. Place peppers on a small baking sheet in the oven. Roast until skin bubbles up and turns brownish-black in spots. Flip and repeat on the other side. This will take about 5 minutes per side, depending on your oven. After both sides are charred, remove from oven and place in a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let steam. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin, stem, and seeds. Skins should peel off easily.
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