Mexican Queso-Fresco Calabacitas

Submitted by PalatablePastime

"A nice southweastern vegetable dish- tastes great with the poblano chile. Goes great with many types of mexican food."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4-5

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil or 1 tablespoon lard
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 -6 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 small zucchini, diced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 -2 poblano chile, seeded and diced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups queso fresco or 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

directions

1. Heat oil or lard in skillet and cook onions until tender.
2. Add garlic, zucchini, and tomato; cook until veggies are crisp-tender.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. In a large ovenproof casserole, mix together zucchini mixture with chopped poblanos and corn; season with salt.
5. Cover with shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until warmed through and cheese starts to color.
7. For Vegetarian simply use the oil or a vegetable based shortening such as Crisco for the Lard.

Reviews

[Nancy80634]

One of my favorite side dishes - and very flexible. I've used all kinds of summer squash (whatever's ripe or available at the farmers' market). And I seldom finish it off in the oven, settling instead for doing it all on the stove top. I frequently use a chili-based Penzy's seasoning blend instead of the poblano chili. Thanks Sue, for a great starting-off point to guide my cooking. And now, my apologies for reviewing a recipe I didn't follow. My purpose was to encourage others not dismiss it if you're short on an ingredient or time. At least I didn't say "I followed the recipe to a T, except, except, except."

 

[noway]

I enjoyed this very much! I used 2 hatch chiles instead of poblano, and it was great. Used cheddar, but I think next time I will try 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 queso fresco. Thanks for posting!

 

[Zanni]

I made this with recipe 279162 for supper and they complimented each other nicely! This was a great healthy Mexican side dish. I used 1/2 of a poblano because I'm not used to cooking with it and wasn't sure of the heat. Next time I'll definitely use 1 whole chile. I sprinkled some cumin and garlic salt to the mixture while it was sauteeing. This would be great with black beans added to it.

 

[Katanashrp]

Very tasty. I used a jalapeno instead of poblano, and it still turned out great. Thank you.

 

[AuntMare]

This was ok. It wasn't overly exciting for us and I had quite a bit left over. I added a can of chicken broth and a few seasonings to the leftovers and it made a delicious soup. Even though we didn't think the original recipe was awesome, it led to another good meal. Thanks for sharing.