Move Over Bobby Flay

Actually, I'm not really a big fan of Bobby Flay. Not sure why...maybe it's that he's so...everywhere. He's the poster child of the Food Network. Throw Down with Bobby Flay. The Life and Times of Bobby Flay. Iron Chef Bobby Flay. Like Rachel Ray. But anyway.

With the long weekend, I was able to spend a significant portion of my time cooking. And in case you don't know me by now, I love cooking. Love it. I love making things up as I go, like my new wholewheat carrot muffins. Or my pork tenderloin recipe. And so, I give you my...

stuffed poblano pepper with homemade tortilla chips and a fresh tomatillo sauce (salsa verde)

It looks delicious, doesn't it? And it was, my friends, it was. And here's the great thing: it's healthy (or, I should say, not as unhealthy as a lot of Mexican food)! Those chips you see? They're baked. Yep. Small corn tortillas, cut into slices, with just a tiny bit of olive oil and kosher salt. The poblano pepper? I "roasted" it over our stovetop (ie held it over the open flame and rotated it) and then stuffed it with a very spicy, very lean ground beef, green chiles and my version of a Spanish rice- no cheese necessary. And of course the piece de resistance, the tomatillo sauce. Hyde Park produce had beautiful tomatillos (which are technically out of season, but...) that I just had to grab them up. Man, it was good.

I've yet to find a healthy, authentic Mexican restaurant in Chicago (minus Rick Bayless, who we simply can't get reservations for and usually can't afford, though he's amazing), so it's nice to know that I can cook up my own, healthy version of some of my Mexican food favorites. Now it's on to the margaritas...