Chicken Chimichangas

It was dinner "to go" again last Friday night as we dashed off to another wrestling tournament.  I planned to pack up some chicken chimichangas to take with us to the tournament so I cooked extra chicken thighs with my Chicken Bonne Femme.  Too bad they were so good that we ended up eating the "extras" - oops.  So after a trip to the grocery store to buy more chicken, I got started on my chimichangas.

Chicken Chimichangas
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole grain brown rice, cooked
3 boneless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
6 ounces cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon water
6 flour tortillas - I like to use large burrito sized tortillas for chimichangas

​Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet.  Poke holes in breasts with a fork and bake 30 minutes at 350.  Dice chicken when cool. 

​Heat oil in skillet, add onion and cook until softened.

​Stir in garlic, chili powder and cumin and cook 30 seconds.

​Add broth, rice and beans and bring to a boil.

​Reduce heat, add chicken and cook 10 minutes.

​Lay tortillas on counter and top each with an ounce of cheese.

​Scoop 3/4 cup filling in the center of each tortilla.

​Combine flour and water and brush mixture on the edges of each tortilla.

Fold 2 tortilla sides to center, overlapping.  Fold up ends of tortilla.

​Heat a small amount of oil (I used olive oil) in a skillet and cook 2 chimichangas at a time in hot oil.  Turn once.  

Drain on paper towels and serve.  (or in my case - pack them up to go)

​I adapted this recipe from a Cook's County magazine.  You could easily adapt this to a vegetarian recipe by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable stock and eliminating the chicken breasts.  I made a slightly healthier version of the chimichanga by making mine on a whole wheat tortilla and eliminating the cheese.  You can also bake the chimichangas instead of frying them to make them even crispier.  

Ciao!

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