Grilled Jalapeño Poppers with Goat Cheese

A fair warning: This recipe is not intended for fickle stomachs, young taste buds or digestive tracks teetering the golden years.

That being said…

Are you the type to throw back raw chilis and shots of Tabasco to watch others squirm? Do you laugh in the face of triple pepper icons on Mexican menus? Devour platters of Indian and Thai at heat levels only Indian and Thai locals can tolerate?

Tell me…must your pizza hide under a blanket of red pepper flakes, your nachos drown in hot sauce and every bite be saturated in something spicy to merely gain entrance into the rockin’ hot party that is your mouth?

Then fire-loving friend, read on, because these little poppers are one heck of a delicious punch in the mouth.

Never once did I dare ponder improving the jalapeno popper. Who doesn’t love a deep fried, cream cheese-stuffed pepper just the way it is? 

Well...my waste line, that’s who.

Thankfully, this lightened version ditches the oil and takes raw, unbattered peppers to the grill, stuffed with a mouthwatering mix of goat cheese, cream cheese, cheddar (or parmesan), tomato and sage. A smokey-charred pepper with gooey, melty, flavorful cheese and a sprinkling of cilantro? Um, yes, poppers can definitely be improved.

To start, wash and slice the jalapenos in half, then rip out the seeds and tap the back of the peppers over the sink to release any strays. Those babies are hot and you want them all out of there. You may also want to wash out the peppers' insides to reduce the heat.

And remember that your taste buds are not all that can be burned from this meal...please, please wear rubber gloves when cutting and cleaning the peppers. Especially if you wear contacts. No one likes a burning eye socket. Or anything else for that matter. (See below.)

When I was a teen, my youth pastor’s wife told me the story of her husband’s near death-by-salsa experience. He was chopping peppers, ungloved, when nature called. So after a quick hand rinse with soap-less water, into the bathroom he went. Remember that he is a guy, and guys are a little more hands-on in this department. His screams still haunt the family at night.

So wear gloves.

While the peppers drain on a paper towel, mix the stuffing. It's quite effortless, really, if you don't mind chopping a tomato and a few green onions. I used rather large jalapeños, so I doubled the filling recipe to ensure proper mile-high cheese mountains.

And for those who simply can’t take the heat (wussies!) you can tame the torture by baking the peppers before you stuff and grill them. Basically, the longer the peppers cook, the less severe they become. We baked some of our leftovers and they were much milder.

When the peppers are stuffed, hand them off to the grill master in your domain and let those babies sizzle. They tend to be a bit wobbly, so leaning them on each other for support will help prevent any cheese from escaping.

Once the peppers are black on the bottoms and the cheese is melty, you'll have something serious to bite into. Think “stuffed pepper meets jalapeno popper.” At a smoky bar. In hell. Where they plotted revenge on your mouth for every distasteful, foul, mocking, saucy and sarcastic word ever sputtered.

But as hot as they are, they're equally as addicting. Bite after torturous bite, I couldn’t find an ounce of restraint in my being. My eyes were watering. My face was flushed. My sinuses were beyond cleared.  But I ignored my body's surrender signals and continued to stuff my face with gooey, cheesy, peppery grilled goodness like my life depended on it, stopping only to fan my eyes and gulp down water, which, by the way, only fed the flame.

Seriously, don’t blame me if you singe your nose hairs with every plate-to-mouth motion. And if you dare try these delicious peppers, I recommend you first make sure you have on hand an icy cold glass of milk, a starchy food, and above all, a ton of guts.

Grilled Jalapeño Poppers with Goat Cheese

(Grilled pepper poppers; Jill Hough, Cooking Light, June 2009)

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 2 pepper halves)

Ingredients:
1/2  cup  (4 ounces) soft goat cheese
1/2  cup  (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese (or shredded cheddar)
1/2  cup  finely chopped seeded tomato
2  tablespoons  thinly sliced green onions
2  tablespoons  chopped fresh sage
1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
16  jalapeño peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
2  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation:
Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Spoon about 2 teaspoons cheese mixture into each pepper half. Place pepper halves, cheese side up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill peppers 5 minutes or until bottoms of peppers are charred and cheese mixture is lightly browned. Carefully place peppers on a serving platter. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 84, Fat: 4.8g (sat 3.1g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 7.1g, Carbohydrate: 3.5g, Fiber: 0.9g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Iron: 0.6mg, Sodium: 334mg, Calcium: 117mg.

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