Baked Mini Pepper Poppers

Details

This recipe from The Eat-Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook is my Eat-Clean version of jalapeño poppers, cleaned up by skipping the breading, using low-fat yogurt cheese and baking them instead of frying. They’re a big hit at parties and no one misses the extra fat and calories!

Ingredients

• 2 cups / 480 ml Yogurt Cheese*, drained well
• 1 large handful cilantro
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
• 2 tsp / 10 ml chopped shallots
• Pinch each sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ lbs / 680 g sweet mini peppers (about 30 peppers)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. In a food processor, combine Yogurt Cheese, cilantro, chipotle peppers, shallots, salt and pepper. Whirl until blended and smooth. Pour into a food-grade squeeze bottle or pastry bag fitted with a tip. If you don’t have either of these tools, see equipment tip below.
3. Using a small sharp knife, make a slit crosswise at the top of a pepper to create a “hinge,” keeping stem intact. Open the top, or “lid,” of pepper and remove any seeds. Fill pepper with yogurt cheese mixture and place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all peppers are filled.
4. Place peppers close to one another on baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is heated through and peppers are tender, but still slightly crisp. Serve warm.

Note

*Yogurt Cheese must be made ahead of time. For this recipe you will want it very thick.

Equipment Tip

If you don’t have a pastry bag, just put the yogurt cheese mixture into a sealable plastic bag and fasten shut. With scissors, cut a hole in one corner so that you can squeeze the yogurt cheese into the peppers.