Mexican: Chimichanga Recipe

I love Mexican food, I mean I REALLY love Mexican food.  However, I don't eat it often because when I do eat it I like it to be authentic (as authentic as it can be here in the states) because I like it with all the cheese, sauce and spices. Which can be very very fattening so I stay away and only indulge ever so often.   Which reminds me I haven't been to one of my favorite Mexican Restaurants (La Parrilla) in a while, might need to take a trip this weekend, YUM!!!

One of my favorite Mexican dishes to get is a Chimichanga w/Chicken.  A Chimichanga is pretty much a deep fried burrito with no lettuce or tomatoes. This dish is also my son and husbands favorite dish so one day my husband asked me to try and make it at home.  I thought about it and it seemed easy enough, I mean like I said it's pretty much a fried burrito.  So one Saturday night I gathered all the ingredients I would need and tried my hand at them.  I decided to document the process so that I could share it with you all, that is only if they turned out right, LOL!!!

Before doing any cooking as I always say WASH YOUR HANDS and I will add MAKE SURE YOUR KITCHEN IS CLEAN TOO (just thought I would add that!!)  :-D


Let's get to it!!

Ingredients:

1Teaspoon of Ground Cumin

¼ Teaspoon of Nature’s Own

½ Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

½ Teaspoon of Ground Red Pepper

3 Medium/Large Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (sliced) or equal amount of chicken strips.

½ of a Medium Onion Thinly Sliced

½ of an Green Bell Pepper Thinly Sliced

6 Tablespoon Olive Oil (used at separate times)

Mozzarella Cheese

Re-fried Beans (Low Fat)

Tortilla Sized Wraps (Plain and/or Wheat)

Salsa

Queso Melt

Flour and water to make a "glue" paste to hold wraps together

Some of the ingredients that I used

More of the ingredients

Your 3 Medium Size Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast washed , dried and sliced into strips.

 1 teaspoon of Ground Cummin

 1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder

 1/4 Teaspoon of Nature's Own Seasoning

 1/2 Teaspoon of Ground Red Pepper

With all the season on your chicken, mix well so it coats all of the chicken strips.

Add 1st tablespoon of Olive Oil to a sauce pan heat and medium/high heat.

Add your seasoned chicken strips and cook until done all the way through. 

When the chicken is done, place on a paper towel lined plate or colander to drain off oil, then set aside to cool.

Slice up your Green Bell Peppers and Onions.

To the same sauce pan that you cooked your chicken in (after it's washed and cleaned) add another tablespoon of olive oil, then add your bell green peppers and onions to saute over medium heat until soft but not mushy or until they are have browned.

Remove peppers and onions from pan and drain on a towel lined plate.

By this time your chicken should be cool, so you can pull the chicken apart (or cut up) into smaller pieces, then set aside again.

Can you now take your flour and mix it with some water to make a paste, you will be using this to help keep the Chimichanga's together after you roll them.

You will need something to put your Chimichanga's on as you roll them before you cook them.  I just put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and placed them on there.

Now it's time to grab your Tortilla shells, I used whole wheat for the one I ate. I like to have my shells soft, they roll better to me. Since I don't have a steamer to put them in, I dampen 2 paper towels, but the tortilla between the two on a plate and then put it in the microwave for about 10-15 sec.  Nice and soft!!

Now it's time to start adding your ingredients to make your Chimichanga.  Start off with your Re-fried Beans (I used low fat).  I know alot of people don't like re-fried beans so this is optional.  I usually don't care for them either but they go well with this!!

Next you add your chicken, then you bell peppers/onions, then top with cheese.  The ones I get from one of the Mexican restaurants usually has the Queso Melt inside but I opted for shredded cheese instead, it just seemed a little more healthy. :-D

Then after adding everything you are going to roll it like you would a burrito or even a wrap.  Take the flour paste and under the flap dab enough of the paste to help seal/hold it down.  You don't have to put too much so a dab about the size of your finger tip should do it.  

While you are rolling your Chimichanga's take the time to get your pan again (washed and cleaned),  add some of the remaining 4 Tablespoons of olive oil and heat it to medium/high heat.  Don't heat your pan too early while rolling your Chimichanga's you don't want to burn your oil or pan, so when you are probably on your last Chimichanga you can do this part.

When the pan is hot enough place your Chimichanga's in the pan. They will cook rather quickly, so don't leave it on one side too long.  Turn them over once the first side you put down is a nice golden brown.   These are usually deep fried but I wanted to try to make them a little healthier so I decided to lightly fry them with a little olive oil.  You will have to add more oil as you cook the Chimichanga's so that's what the remaining olive oil is for.

On my stove with my pan it took about 1min or less to brown on both side, but it may differ depending on your stove and the type of pan you use.

Once your Chimichanga's are done, plate it, pour the Queso Melt (heated up) over it, top with salsa and then ENJOY!!!  

These were sooooooooooooooo YUMMY!!!   Even though they weren't deep fried they were still nice and crispy.  Now if you wish you can serve this with like a Mexican rice, sour cream and guacamole, that how it's done at the restaurants I've gone to, but I always order mine with out them.

I know this isn't the most healthiest dish (especially for those on their New Year fitness kick, LOL), but it's a little healthier than the one you would get from the Mexican Restaurant.  Plus, you can enjoy this on one of you "cheat days"!!

So I hope you try this recipe, the chicken can be substituted for beef, pork, shrimp or even tofu.  You can also opt out of adding cheese too, I am a cheese lover so I gotta have it with cheese!!

Well until next time, have a great evening!!!

TTYL!!!