Chimichangas

I had no idea how to spell the food for this week, I googled it to make sure I did not look like a complete fool. I call them chimi’s around my house. So clever right? I know this is a second post on mexican but I couldn’t help it. This one is by far one of my FAVORITE recipes. I have held onto it for a little over a year now and refuse to stop making it.

While these yummy little things are usually fried and filled with lots of meat in the restaurant version, I found a recipe that bakes them and adds more figure-flattering ingredients. It’s a recipe offline and I cannot seem to find the link so I have it typed for you here:

Ingredients

2 spray(s) cooking spray
1/2 pound(s) uncooked ground turkey breast(I used ground chicken because it was on hand)
16 oz fat-free canned refried beans
1 and 3/4 cup(s) salsa
4 1/2 oz canned green chili peppers, mild, drained and diced
1 tsp chili powder(or more if you want a kick)
3 Tbsp scallion(s), thinly sliced
1 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
8 large burrito-size wheat flour tortilla(s) (I only had taco sized so I just reduced the amount of filling per tortilla.)
1 cup(s) salsa
1/2 cup(s) fat-free sour cream
Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Coat a 13- X 9- X 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Add turkey to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan and then add beans, 1 and 3/4 cups of salsa, chili peppers, chili powder and scallions. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes; stir in cheese.
• Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; warm in oven for 10 minutes. (I always forget to warm my tortillas ahead of time so don’t be like me and remember!)
• Assemble chimichangas by spooning about 1/2 cup of turkey mixture onto each tortilla; fold in sides and roll up.
• Place chimichangas, seam-side down, in prepared baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until tortillas are crisp and browned, about 20 minutes. Serve each topped with 2 tablespoons of salsa and 1 tablespoon of sour cream (or you can smother them with both of these ingredients without discrestion…or save yourself some calories and eat them plain, still deeeelish!!) .

I have a friend who refuses to eat refried beans, chilli peppers, and scallions but he likes the recipe. His words are “It’s fire”. Its also relatively cheap so why not just try it! They freeze really well too so they are a go-to lunch/quick dinner during the week!

Katie