Arroz a la Poblana

Now, I can't vouch for your neck of the woods, but in the good old state of Washington, we are in the high season for produce. Yes, thanks to the eastern part of the state, our farmers markets are ripe with chiles, corn, and all other matter of goodness. I'm not a spicy fiend, but since we get local chiles for such a short spell each year, I try to make use of them while I can!

Today I'd love to share one of my favorite summer recipes with you: Arroz a la Poblana. Now I'd love to take credit for this delicious dish, but alas, it's from the fabulous cookbook, Authenic Mexican by Rick Bayless.

Upon taking a closer look, you can see that this dream of a dish is a white rice pilaf with fresh corn, roasted poblano chiles, and queso fresco. Which is to say, holy moly is it ever good! The poblanos aren't very spicy, so you get all that good chile flavor without feeling like your mouth is on fire, the corn gives the dish a nice bit of sweetness, and the queso fresco brings a nice creamy, salty flavor to the whole thing.

Arroz a la Poblana- serves 4-6
from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup long- or medium-grain rice
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon if using salted broth, 1 teaspoon if using unsalted broth
- 3 medium, fresh chiles poblanos, roasted and peeled, seeded and sliced into short, thin strips
- The kernels cut from 1 large ear fresh sweet corn (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (2 to 3 ounces) crumbled Mecixan queso fresco, or other fresh cheese like feta or farmer's cheese

1. About 40 minutes before serving, combine the oil, rice, and onion in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently for about 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent but not browned. Meanwhile, add the salt to the broth and bring to a simmer.

Add the broth to the rice mixture along with the chiles and corn, stir well, scrape down the sides of the pan, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

2. When the rice has cooked 15 minutes, let stand off the fire, covered, 5 to 10 minutes, until the grains are tender (but not splayed). Add the crumbled cheese and toss the whole assemblage with a fork to mix the ingredients and stop the cooking. Scoop into a serving bowl and serve.

There you have it! This dish is relatively simple to put together, but the pay off is amazing! You can eat this on its own, or as a side for some other tasty Mexican food. I've been eating it for lunches this week with some Mexican spiced shredded chicken. Yum!

Til next time!

-Becca

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