Saturday 21 September 2013

Chicken Chimichangas

The day I made these AWESOME Shrimp Enchiladas, I also had to make another main dish.

I had 5 grown up mouths and 1 little girl mouth to feed - I suppose I could have made double the amount of Shrimp Enchiladas, but I really wanted to do a couple of different things.

I wanted to make chicken chimichangas, but the ones I wanted to make were fried and they were quickly given the red light.

I knew someone had to have something that would work.

Sure enough, Christy at The Girl Who Ate Everything saved the day with a chimichanga that's baked, not fried.  (yes.  I realise that's a catch phrase from something else.)

Just a quick note - run over to Christy's blog and wish her congrats on the arrival of her gorgeous baby girl, Bailey Rose!


Cooked chicken breast.  I seem to want to do it a different way every time.  This time I cooked the chicken in a slow cooker with water.  Once it was done I shredded it up.


Then add in the cheese.


And the salsa.


The cumin and oregano.


And the green onions.


Mix it all together.

Then start filling the tortillas.  Place the chicken filling in the center of the tortilla.


I kind of shaped the chicken mixture so that the resulting rolled chimichangas would be nicely shaped.....  But I'm kind of strange - so feel free to do what you you please.


Here's a little tutorial to help you roll up the chimichangas.  Yep - those meathooks belong to me.  The camera really does add 10 pounds doesn't it.

First, fold over two sides of the tortilla to make the ends.  I realise that tortillas are round and don't have sides, just humor me.


I find it easiest to start rolling from the end closest to me.  I kind of do a fold-and-roll type of thing where I fold the end over, then kind of roll the whole thing over.


So it looks like this.


Thanks to my sister-in-law Victoria for taking pictures for me while my hands were dirty! 

Continue until all the chimichangas are rolled.  I put mine into a 9 x 13 baking dish, but I think you could put these on a baking sheet also.  I lucked out and had just enough chicken mixture to make a smallish chimichanga for the little girl mouth I had to feed.


Now.  I missed a step when I made these, and remembered a few minutes into the bake time.

Make sure you brush the tops of the chimichangas with melted butter.  I imagine the reason this is done is to prevent the chimichangas from splitting open and the filling going everywhere.  You can see that I remembered the butter after I noticed the one splitting open.

Don't forget the butter part.


The reviews were as follows:

"These are awesome!"  "Are there leftovers?"  "Are you putting this up on the blog?"  "Can I have the recipe now?"

With only one chimichanga left at the end of the meal, Victoria scooped it up before anyone noticed and stashed it in the back of the fridge so she could have it all to herself as a snack later on.

And sure enough, later on that evening, someone DID have that last chimichanga as a snack....  But it wasn't Victoria!  And when she busted Gary stuffing his face, he didn't even look guilty or sorry for stealing it from her.

Which definitely means it was good.

If you're on the prowl for a healthy, simple, and delicious chimichanga recipe - this one fits the bill perfectly.

Until you smother it in sour cream and guacamole and refried beans like I did.  Lettuce and tomatoes are also an acceptable topping.

Thanks to Christy - you really are fantastic!

xoxo - the Cane girl

Chicken Chimichangas

2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped
6 8-inch flour tortillas
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken salsa, cumin, oregano, cheese, and green onions.
  3. Portion 1/3 cup of chicken mixture onto the middle of a tortilla.  Fold the ends over and roll up from the side closest to you.  Continue until all the chicken mixture has been used.
  4. Arrange seam side down on a baking sheet (or pan).
  5. Brush the tops of the chimichangas with the mleted butter.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Source:  The Girl Who Ate Everything

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