I seem to be on a Tex-Mex cooking kick this month and decided I'd re-mix my ground beef chimichangas with a rotisserie chicken melange, and use as many store bought ingredients as possible. Plus I've been contemplating a dairy free diet, so I included that in the mix. The recipe turned out great. But the portions (to me) were still not appetizer size. I was looking for something about the size of an egg roll, and the 8 inch tortillas were still too big. The good thing I discovered in my little expedition was that the supermarket has everything you need to put together a healthy, quick app or dinner for yourself or your family. And I didn't seem to miss the gobs of sour cream I usually slather on top of any Mexican dish. And the Veggie Shreds (soy product) did the trick melting and tasting just like cheddar cheese, which normally wouldn't have been my cheese choice if I weren't avoiding dairy.
Here are some of the store bought products
I used to complete the dish:
Cheddar was the only selection they offered in my limited
"soy department", so I ran with it.
40% less sodium sounded good to me so I grabbed this Ortega product. Honestly, I could not tell the difference between the less sodium and the full flavor.
I don't seem to have a problem eating fat free beans, so I picked these up. There's so much going on in the chimichanga, you won't even notice the difference. I never do.
This little package of heaven is worth keeping around for anything you might be making. Plus it was a dollar off because the expiration date was coming up. Hah- I used one bag and froze the second, which you know I'll put to good use.
Oven Baked Chicken Chimichangas
serves four
Cooking spray
3 T canola oil, divided
3/4 cup onions diced
3/4 cup green pepper diced
1 jalapeno seeded and diced
1-1/2 cups cooked chicken sliced or shredded
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 cup re-fried beans
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce (you won't need all of it)
4 8 inch flour tortillas
1 cup lactose free cheese shreds
1 pkg Wholly Guacamole for garnish
Chopped lettuce, tomato and scallions for garnish
Pre heat oven to 450 degrees. Cover baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside. In large sauce pan, on medium low heat add 1 T canola oil. When oil is warm add onion, green peppers and jalapenos. Cook until soft and aromatic. You can add a pich of salt if you like. I did. Now add the taco mix with 3/4 cups of water. Simmer until it thickens (3-5 minutes).
Now add the shredded/sliced chicken and combine with sauteed pepper/onion mixture.
Get out the tortillas and begin the assembly process. On each of 4 tortillas, spread 1/4 cup of refried beans down the center of the tortilla, leaving edges free of beans. Top with 1/4 of chicken mixture and 1/4 cup of cheese shreds.
Tuck in 2 sides of the tortilla and then fold into thirds (like a business letter). Place tortillas seam side down on prepared baking sheet and brush tops with canola oil and bake 8 minutes. Flip tortillas and brush with more canola oil.
Bake another 8 minutes and remove from oven. Top with warmed enchilada sauce, chopped lettuce, tomato and scallions, and of course some cool Wholly Guacamole. And maybe a little dab of sour cream if you're not depriving yourself of dairy. I'm going to try this again with 6 inch tortillas if they are to be found. I don't think I need to post another recipe, but I'll let you know if that size fulfills my dream of the perfect appetizer.
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