Rajas con papas tacos (poblano and potato)
Smoky roasted poblano strips and golden potatoes in a creamy, melty sauce, piled into warm corn tortillas.
- 55 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.43 a serving
- 570 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 poblano peppers
- 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 white onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 12 corn tortillas
- ½ cup queso fresco, crumbled
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Each serving has about 570 calories, 19 g protein, 68 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $2.43 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No Yukon Gold potatoes? Russet potatoes or red potatoes work.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No queso fresco? Cotija cheese or feta cheese works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Turn on the with a rack near the top. Broil the poblanos on a , turning them with tongs every few minutes, until blistered and blackened all over, 10 to 12 minutes.
Broil. Broiling means cooking under the oven’s top heating element, with strong heat from above. It browns and crisps the top in minutes, and it can burn fast, so stay close.
How you’ll know: The top bubbles and spots golden brown; check every minute and pull it before it blackens.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: Black is what you want here. The skin is coming off anyway.Put the peppers in a bowl, cover it with a plate and let them for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the potatoes, the onion and the garlic.
Steam. Steaming means cooking food over or in a little simmering water with a lid on to trap the steam. It cooks gently and keeps vegetables bright and tender.
How you’ll know: The color turns vivid, and a fork goes in with just a little resistance.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Timer: 10 min
Heat the oil in a large over medium heat. Add the potatoes and ½ teaspoon salt, cover and cook, stirring twice, until tender and in spots, 10 to 12 minutes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 11 min
Rub the skins off the poblanos with your fingers, pull out the stems and seeds, and the peppers into thin strips.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Dolly’s tip: Don’t rinse them under the tap. Water washes away the smoky flavor.Add the onion to the potatoes and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin and oregano for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the poblano strips, sour cream and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Turn the heat to low, scatter the jack cheese over, cover and let it , about 2 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heatTimer: 2 min
Warm the tortillas one at a time in a dry over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds per side, and stack them in a clean towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heat
Fill the tortillas, doubling them up if they’re thin, and top with queso fresco, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Food safety: If you’re pregnant, buy queso fresco labeled “made with pasteurized milk,” and for extra care, warm it until it’s steaming hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
