Baked Chimichanga's

I know, its been a really long time.

Been doing some thinking, planning etc.

Lately, I have been thinking more healthy, trying to figure out how to eat things that I really love while not eating horrible. So I came up with this on the fly and wanted to share.

I love chimichanga's. They are one of my favorite mexican dishes but come with a high fat load due to deep frying. The problem is without frying you bascially have a burrito, so my mission was to come up with a baked version that kept the charm of the fried, but much better for you. Enjoy

Makes (6 medium chimi's)

Prep time 20 min.

Bake time 20 min.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Chimi Filling:

1 lb Ground Round (FRESH, not frozen)

1/2 a large onion diced

1 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh pepper

1 pack your favorite taco seasoning

2/3 c water

1 pkg low-fat Cheddar/Jack, Mexican blend etc, shredded cheese

1 pkg Medium Tortillas

1 tsp olive oil

Optional 2 Jalapeños( for those who like more spice)

In a large skillet, add the olive oil to a cold pan, with the diced onion and a pinch(1/4 tsp) of the salt and about the same amount of pepper. We are going for a sweat here, so do not hit this in a hot pan to start. If you decided to do Jalapeños add them here. Cook over medium heat till the onions are soften and translucent (4-5 minutes). Increase the head a bit, and add the ground beef, the rest of the salt and pepper. After 2-3 minutes, add the garlic powder. Cook the beef until completely cooked through.

Add the taco seasoning and the water and finish the mix as directed on the package. ( basically mix cook until liquid is evaporated.) Allow mix to cool 5 minutes or so off the hit so you dont burn the hell out of yourself when you start working with it.

Heat 6 tortillas in the microwave for about 20 seconds to soften them up.

In the middle of each tortilla, add a handful of cheese in a line extending to about 1/2 inch from the edge, top with about a 1/6 of the meat mix. Fold the sides in and tuck and roll the tortilla, think burrtio here, thats what we are going for. Once rolled up secure with a toothpick or two. The goal is not to have them unwrap in the oven, try and seal them up as best you can.

Place on a lightly spayed cooking sheet, make you it has a good rim on it, this may get messy.

Now here is how we get that chimi fried goodness for a fraction of the fat. Using a pastry brush liberally brush the whole chimi with Vegetable oil. When this is baking the oil will lightly fry that shell, giving it a bit of that fried taste with much less fat and calories. Save some oil because you will probably want to hit them again after 10 minutes in the oven or so.

Bake for 20 minutes, basting with the vege oil again about half way through. Pull them out when the are nice a browned and have a slight crisp to them.

Here is a sauce I can up with after reminiscing about Chi-Chi's old ranchoro gravy they used to serve.

In a sauce pan combine:

2 c Chicken broth(Low Sodium)

2-3 branching FRESH Cilantro diced fine

2-3 Green onions diced fine

1 Jalepeno (Guess how I want it cut)

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Bring this mix to a boil and reduce to about 3/4

Once ready to finish, add a corn starch slurry to thicken it to just under the consistency of gravy.

Serve the chimi's covered with the sauce and a good dollap of sour cream(Low fat breakstones is my Sour cream of choice).

This is a great, quick and healthier style meal for a week night that pleases everyone and doesnt taste nearly as healthy as it is. For a side I like the corn cake mix you can find near the Mexican products in your local grocery story or Lightly Sautéed Zucchini works FANTASTIC here.

Variation: Chicken:

For the chicken version,replace the beef with diced chicken(of course)

Add a 1/2 c of Low Fat Sour Cream to the meat base when its all set

This creates a whole serperate experience that is even more healthy.

Do Not EVER use turkey for this....it is just too dry to whole up well in this recipe.

Peace out, get the hell out of my kitchen.

-JP