Crispy Southwest Chicken Burritos

We have some sort of Mexican (burrito, taco, enchilada or quesadilla) about twice a month.  The problem is I'm getting sick of the usual flavors.  I feel like I've done twists on tacos and quesadillas in the past, so it felt right, to make a change to the burrito.  Today I am introducing my Crispy Southwest Chicken Burritos.

Here's how I decided what was going to go into this burrito.  Pay close attention.  It's all very technical (insert silly snicker).

First off, boneless chicken breasts have been ridiculously expensive and it just so happened ground chicken was on sale.  Chicken - Check.  Down the rice aisle I go.  I knew I wanted to health it up a little,so I decided brown rice, right off the bat (it's all tucked in there, the family will never know).  I grabbed one of those instant rice pouches.  You know the ones, you zap it in the microwave for 90 seconds and it's done!  Rice - Check. Hmmm, what beans to use?  Oh black beans, you're on sale for fifty cents. Beans - Check.  As far as the cheese, there is something you should know about me.  On any given day, I will have approximately 6-7 pouches of grated cheese in my fridge.  Because I use so much cheese, I just buy a huge variety and mix and match.  It just so happened I had a Mexican blend, so it worked out perfectly.

Once I was home and started cooking, I realized I started without a real plan.  I'm glad to say it came together deliciously in the end.  After I had the chicken cooking, I realized I need to add flavor somehow.  After a quick glance in the pantry, I pulled out a Southwest Seasoning I had tucked away, for who knows how long.  I really don't remember buying it, which kind of scares me and reminds me, I really need to clean out the spices.  Spices-Check!  Since the seasoning sent me in the Southwest direction, I decided to throw in a can of corn, because I associate corn in Southwestern food.  Is this even correct or a weird association I've come up with myself?

Okay so here's the great part.  This is totally versatile.  You can bake them or give it a quick cook in a saute pan with olive oil.  I had originally planned on baking them, but I had an unfortunate incident with plastic melting in my oven while I was baking cookies, so I had no option but to cook on the stovetop.  However, after all the photos were taken and the oven cleaned, I did make one more and baked it and it was great.

If you do decide to bake, the key to getting them crispy is to place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet and spray the burrito with a bit of cooking spray or oil and bake 400 for 12 minutes.

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Crispy Southwest Chicken Burritos

foodyschmoody

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Ingredients

  

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion diced
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 2 T Southwest Seasoning
• 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn drained
• 2 C brown rice prepared
• 1 C shredded cheese Mexican blend
• 6 large burrito size flour tortillas

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a large saute pan, over medium/high heat. Add onion and ground chicken. Cook until chicken is cooked through and onion is soft.
• Drain if necessary and return to pan.
• Stir seasoning into chicken & onion and turn heat to medium.
• Add beans, rice and corn. Cook until warmed through, about 4 minutes.
• Lay a tortilla flat and place about ¼ C of filling into the bottom 3rd of tortilla (leaving an edge). Sprinkle cheese over filling. Fold up and over the filling and then fold in the sides before continuing to roll the rest up into a burrito. Place seam side down and continue to roll the rest.
• In a large saute pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium/high heat. Add burritos, 2 at a time and cook about 2 minutes per side.

If baking is preferred:

• Place burritos seam side down, on a wire rack placed on top of a baking sheet. Spray burritos with a spray of cooking spray or oil and bake 12 minutes at 400.

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