Oven-Baked Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
1⁄4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8.8-ounce) package Uncle Ben’s ready rice
1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups)
2 teaspoons chipotles canned in adobo sauce, minced
1 cup Mexican cheese blend, shredded
1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
6 large (burrito size) flour tortillas (Thanks to the snow, my store only has spinach flour tortillas. Those worked just fine.)
Instructions
1. Place rimmed baking sheet in oven and heat oven to 450*F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onion until just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in beans, rice, chicken, and chipotle and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in cheese and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Stack tortillas on plate and microwave until pliable, about 1 minute. Top warm tortillas with chicken mixture, leaving 2-inch border at bottom. Fold in sides and roll up tightly. Brush wrapped tortillas with remaining oil and arrange, seam side down, on preheated baking sheet. Bake until crisp and golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve.
Comments
This recipe is from the 2009 Cook’s Country Annual and I picked it because I love chimichangas. However, the fried ones are sort of a pain to make at home, so this seemed like it would provide a nice alternative.
I often pick recipes based solely on the name and picture, so I was a bit worried when I saw that this recipe contains so many prepared foods, but I felt committed to give it a try.
I was actually very pleased with the results! The oven baking made the tortillas nice and crispy and the assembly was extremely easy thanks to all of the packaged ingredients. I think that, next time, I’d want to toss the rice and beans with some lime juice and I might add some salsa as well for extra flavor, or maybe some chopped green onions. This method certainly has lots of potential, and I look forward to tweaking it in the future.
Cook’s Country 2009