Roasted-Poblano Guacamole with Garlic and Parsley

I'm taking a trip to Mexico in my kitchen tonight. Starting with oven-roasted poblano chiles gives this guacamole an authentic taste.  Poblanos are a mildly spicy, dark green chile, smaller than a bell pepper.  The flavor is a bit similar to a green bell pepper, but more concentrated. Queso anejo, an aged, salty Mexican cheese, would normally be sprinkled on top here. I decided to use vegan Parmesan sprinkles to capture the flavor, but you might consider crumbling a vegan feta (such as Veg Cuisine) on top instead.

Ingredients:

• 2 poblano chiles (about 6 ounces)
• 2 plum tomatoes (about 6 ounces)
• 2 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 1 and 1/3 cups coarsely mashed and peeled ripe avocado
• 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegan Parmesan sprinkles (such as Galaxy Foods)
• 2 tablespoons sliced radishes
• 7 ounces baked tortilla chips 

1. Cut the poblanos in half lengthwise, and discard the seeds and membranes.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet, skin sides up, along with the tomatoes and garlic cloves.  Broil for 12 minutes, turning the tomatoes over halfway through.

2. Transfer the poblano halves to a zip-top plastic bag and seal; let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Peel the poblanos, tomatoes, and garlic (the skins should slip easily off all three, at this point).  Transfer the poblanos and garlic to a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped.

4. Combine the poblano mixture in a bowl with the tomatoes, avocado, parsley, lime juice, and salt.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan and radishes, and serve with the tortilla chips.

Note: If it seems strange not to chop the tomatoes, don't fret; they will be so tender after broiling that they'll practically melt into pieces in the avocado as you dip with chips:

Nutrition Info:
8 servings (1/4 cup guacamole, about 3/4 cup chips), Calories 179

Tasting Notes:
Wonderfully fresh, although the flavors were, surprisingly, not as strong as I was hoping. To wit, the roasted tomatoes and poblano almost tasted a touch dull, and although the sweet roasted garlic was yummy, it was not very pronounced. Certainly more salt would help, and perhaps a touch more lime juice. Great creamy avocado though, and the parsley was a nice alternative to more-expected cilantro.

Rating:
3.5 

Update:
Just to give it a try, I used Veg Cuisine's vegan feta for the queso anejo on my second make of this recipe. Honestly the difference was slight, since either way you're only using 2 tablespoons cheese, but the slightly larger crumbles of the feta compared to the vegan Parmesan sprinkles are my preference if I had to choose between the two.

I also used the opportunity to chop the tomatoes before adding in to the mix, so that the tomato was more dispersed than last time.

 

If you want more fun ways to play with queso anejo (whether using vegan Parmesan sprinkles or vegan feta), both are delicious over store-bought enchiladas:

corn on the cob:

or on homemade corn masa snacks. Here I used masa harina to make a simplified version of gorditas (masa dough stuffed with vegan refried pinto beans):