Vegetarian Chimichanga with Kidney Beans

Blogging Marathon# 31: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Mexican Cuisine
Dish: Vegetarian Low-fat Chimichanga

For Day 2 of BM# 31 under 'Mexican Cuisine' theme, I made this low(er) fat vegetarian Chimichanga. 'Chimichanga' is essentially deep fried burrito that is stuffed with either meat and/or beans. Since deep frying is not something I do regularly I decided to pan fry them. I already have a recipe for baked chimichangas that I posted way back in the olden days :-)

Filling for the chimichangas, like any other Mexican dish, is very versatile and can range from meats to beans to veggies. I have made these with different beans (black or red kidney or pinto) and sometimes even mix some TVP (soy granules). But the best I've found is using Trader Joe's Soyrizo and beans cooked with some onions, red pepper and some cheese -- yummy!!

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Chimichanga with Pinto Beans

Chimichanga is a deep fried burrito usually stuffed with rice, beans, vegetables and cheese. Wiki says “According to a legend, Monica Flin, who started the restaurant El Charro in 1922, accidentally dropped a burrito into the deep fat fryer. She immediately began to utter a Spanish curse-word, but quickly edited herself to say chimichanga, the Spanish equivalent of thingamajig”.

Instead of deep frying my chimis, I baked them and I have to say that I didn’t miss the fat or the calories in the baked version.

Ingredients:
Dried pinto beans – 1 cup (or 1 can)
Salsa – ½ cup (home made or store bought)
Lime juice – 1tbsp
Cheddar cheese – 1 cup (I used reduced fat cheddar and monterey jack blend)
Salt and pepper – to taste
Flour tortillas – 5

Method:

• Cook the beans (pressure cooker makes life easy here, but canned beans are far better). Mash the beans and let them cool.
  
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
  
• Combine beans, salsa, cheese, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread the bean mixture on one half of a tortilla, tuck the tortilla over the mixture; fold the sides; roll the tortilla to make a wrap. (Use a toothpick to tuck the loose end if needed.)
  

• Arrange them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray (cover the sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up).
  
• Bake for 10-15 minutes per side or until the chimis are golden brown on all sides.
  

Serve warm with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.