Chicken Burritos with Spanish Rice & Fresh Salsa

Just one more Spanish Rice recipe! It's conceivable, after eating Spanish Rice for dinner, lunch, and then making soup out of it, that you might have a little bit leftover. Fajitas would be fun, but burritos? I can make burritos in my sleep. One of my favorite foods to eat. In fact, I'll make this confession- it's not an unusual week for me to open a can of refried beans and have bean burritos all week for lunch. A nice warm tortilla, creamy beans, cheese, and sour cream, all topped with freshly made salsa? Yes, please! "Yes, please!" all week long. However, it's always nice to change up the burrito and fill it with out-of-the-ordinary deliciousness. For me, that's adding chicken, as we don't keep chicken meat on hand 24/7. However, roasting a chicken last week left me some leftover morsels. And then, there's rice. Because it's not every day I have Spanish Rice in the fridge. Salsa, on the other hand, you will always find in my fridge.

So, with these chicken burritos, I finally bid adieu to the Spanish Rice. If you've been reading the last couple of posts, you're probably sick and tired of Spanish Rice. I hope I've convinced you of 2 things-

1. How economical making a batch of Spanish Rice is- A recipe utilizing pantry ingredients that most people keep on hand. Plus, using the rice for multiple recipes and dinners saves moola as well.

2. How much of a time saver this could be- Make this one night and save time later in the week!

All right, I can promise you, you've seen the last of the Spanish Rice for awhile. I cannot promise you won't see any more Mexican recipes though. The hubby and I are heading out soon for Cancun, after all. I must prepare my stomach for the festivities. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself!

Today is the hubby's birthday so I can assure you, there will be no Mexican food today. We had his family over yesterday to celebrate with cake and ice cream. I mentioned earlier I was hoping he would choose the Boston Cream Pie. He did not. Alas, he chose Carrot Cake. It turned out fabulously, by the way. I'll be sure to share the recipe later in the week, or maybe next week if other recipes take priority. Last week was fantastic for light as far as photography goes, so I've got a few recipes in the pipeline. I love having recipes in the pipeline. It's a much better feeling to open the blog and choose from several recipes to feature vs. opening the blog and panicking over having nothing to post. Or fretting about the fact that dark clouds have converged around my house at the perfect photography time. In the meantime, today is the hubby's day. We have nothing planned yet, so we'll see what that kid wants to do today. I mean, besides devouring the last of his Carrot Cake :)

Happy Birthday Hubby! And Happy Monday friends!

Ingredients (makes 2 burritos):

1 cup Spanish Rice

1/2 cup cooked chicken, shredded

2 tortillas

2 tbsp sour cream

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup lettuce, thinly sliced

1/4 cup Fresh Salsa

Directions:

1. Place Spanish Rice in a microwave-safe dish and heat until warm, stirring once.

2. Place chicken in a small skillet over medium heat. Toss until warm. Remove from heat. (You can heat the chicken in the microwave if desired, but I think it gives the chicken a weird flavor.)

3. Place tortillas on a microwave safe plate. Cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 30-45 seconds.

4. Spread 1 tbsp sour cream on warm tortilla. Top with 1/4 cup of chicken, 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 the cheese, lettuce, and salsa. Roll tortilla to wrap it up. Repeat with 2nd tortilla. Serve immediately!

Printable Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Black Bean Flautas with Avocado Dipping Sauce

Seviche-Style Shrimp and Avocado Tacos

Red Bean and Rice Tacos

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesdays, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friend's Friday Linky Party

Pulled Pork Taco Casserole

I was hoping to bring you a post today with pictures experimenting with my new photography light. However, after the first shoot, I think there's more work to be done. The first pictures taken with the new light actually weren't that bad. The lighting was almost perfect in them. Almost. As I mentioned before, there's more work to be done. We are hosting my mother-in-law for a couple of days while her carpet is redone, so I haven't had a ton of time to mess around. I'll have more time for that tomorrow :)

And to be honest, lighting wasn't the main problem with the pictures I took. 

So in the meantime, I'll reach into the vault and pull out another recipe that's been waiting in the wings. One more great way to use leftover pulled pork in a re-inventive way. The hubby went back for generous seconds on this dish. I'm just saying...

I adapted this from my Turkey Taco Casserole. I thought pulled pork would be a fantastic stand-in, and yep, I was right. In fact, I only have 3 pictures of this casserole, because this is all that was left. True, it was a small casserole, but I mean, sheesh. We did some serious damage. And I can't say I'm sorry about it. Well, kind of sorry, but that's only because I didn't take pictures before I devoured my plate. I'd liken this to a Mexican Lasagna, with layers of pulled pork, refried beans, salsa, cheese, and tortilla strips. It's amazing, you'll just have to try it for yourself. I'll leave it at that.

You all know that I'm a big advocate for roasts. Large, tough, and usually cheap cuts of meat. There are many methods to make the roast tender, and you get lots of meals out of one piece of meat. It's economical to the nth degree. Not to mention, you can usually prepare them in the crock pot aka the lazy cook's best friend. In fact, I made a crockpot meal yesterday and was remarking to the hubby how much I love the crockpot. I love doing all the work in the morning, when I have the most energy anyway. There are many days that by the time evening rolls around, I'm too tired to cook. It's those days I wish I knew ahead of time so I could have planned a crock pot meal that day. Plus, those crockpot days open the door to leftover recipes, like this one. Having prepared meat at your fingertips gives you almost endless dinner options, and quick ones too. Pulled pork taco filling is one of my all-time favorite crockpot recipes.

Have I convinced you to make pulled pork yet? Seriously peeps. The initial meal will be good, but the meal possibilities are endless after that. Casseroles (like this one!), pizza, hash, enchiladas, sandwiches, salads, etc... I could go on for a long time :)

Have a fantastic day friends!

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

2 cups prepared Pulled Pork

1 (16 oz) can refried beans

1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

4 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch thick strips

1/2 cup salsa, plus more for serving

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

sour cream, lime wedges, and sliced avocado (for serving)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly coat an 8x8 casserole dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. To assemble the casserole, spread a thin layer of pulled pork into the casserole pan. Spread a layer of refried beans over the pork, followed by a layer of green chiles, and then cheese. Top cheese layer with 4 tortilla strips. Repeat layers. Top 2nd layer of tortilla strips with more cheese, and then more salsa.

3. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cilantro, and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream, lime wedges, sliced avocado, and more salsa.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run.

Looking for other casserole recipes? Try these!

Cheesy Eggplant and Orzo Casserole

Cheesy Pasta Bake

Turkey Taco Casserole

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Treasure Box Tuesdays

Black Bean Flautas with Avocado Dipping Sauce

Ooh yum, another recipe Jessica gets to eat salsa with! :)

I could eat Mexican food everyday. I could probably live in Mexico. Heck, I was probably Latina in another life. I've never gone on a Mexican vacation, but I think that'd be a good trip for me. One where I can lay on the beach all day with a margarita in my hand, and eat fresh seafood and tacos everyday. Sounds like heaven...

What was I supposed to be talking about? Oh yeah, not a beach vacation, but food. I've been meaning to try a flauta recipe for some time now, I just hadn't quite gotten around to it. Until now. I took a chicken recipe and turned it vegetarian. Mainly because I had black beans on hand, but no chicken. No matter, they still turned out delicious and waaay filling. All you'd have to do is serve this alongside some Spanish rice, and you'd have a feast. 

I loved the avocado dipping sauce that went with the flautas. Mine turned out very thick, but you could definitely thin your sauce out by adding water to taste. The sauce has a lovely thick and creamy texture thanks to all that yummy avocado. The recipe calls for you to fry the flautas in oil, but I was not in the mood to deep fry. I popped these in the oven instead, and didn't lose any crispy goodness by changing the method. Healthier, and still browned and crispy? Plus, no cleaning up of oil that inevitably splatters everywhere? Yes, and yes!

I paired down the spiciness of this dish to make it hubby-friendly. I used refried black beans with jalapeños which I thought gave the dish enough spice. The recipe for the avocado dipping sauce called for jalapeños and cayenne, both of which I omitted. I found we didn't miss the spice, but by all means, make it spicy if you want. I probably would have made the sauce spicy if it were just for me!

Really, you must try making flautas. It's super easy. Roll up whatever filling you want in a little tortilla. Wrap the tortilla tight and secure it with a toothpick. Place wrapped tortillas in oven, bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and top with preferred toppings. They make wonderful leftovers. I had a couple leftover the next day that I popped in the microwave. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they held up, even in the dreaded microwave. Plus, think of what you could use as a filling. Any kind of meat- chicken, beef, pork, turkey, bacon, hamburger, etc. Not to mention you could use any kind of bean mixture, or even grains like lentils or rice. Crispy diced potatoes maybe? The possibilities are as endless as the possibilities for tacos. 

Finally, I'll add that I had some leftover black bean mixture from making the flautas. My advice? Store it in the fridge and make one of the following with the leftovers:

1. Quesadillas

2. Tostadas

3. Bean Burritos

4. Taco Salad

5. More Flautas!

I just happened to use the remainder of the black beans for a lunchtime burrito. Mmmmmmm. Light years ahead of Taco Bell :)

Happy Thursday friends!

Ingredients (serves 4):

Flautas:

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 (15 oz) can of refried black beans with jalapeño (I used Trader Joe's)

16 corn tortillas, warmed

toppings- chopped lettuce and tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, cheese, chopped cilantro

Avocado Dipping Sauce:

1 avocado

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp- 1/4 cup water

Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º. Coat a cookie sheet with cookie spray.

2. In a small bowl, combine red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and black beans. Spread a heaping tablespoon of black bean mixture onto a corn tortilla. Wrap the tortilla up tight, like a cigar, and secure with a toothpick. Put prepared tortilla on cookie sheet. Repeat with the remainder of tortillas.

3. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes, or until flautas are browned and crispy. Remove from oven, set aside.

4. To prepare avocado sauce, combine all ingredients (avocado through 2 tbsp water) in a food processor. Pulse until mixture is smooth. Add more water if you want to thin the sauce out. Add salt to taste.

5. Top flautas with desired toppings and serve alongside avocado dipping sauce. Serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Oh My Veggies.

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesdays, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos with Lime Sour Crema

Let me tell you, it's an almost impossible task to feed me tacos I don't like. I'm not picky, I've eaten them from everywhere, all over the country. While I eat them all, I do know a good taco when I come across one. There's a very modern taco shop in Huntington, WV called Black Sheep that I love. They are one of those places that serve unlikely taco combinations like duck with pickled blackberries (to die for) and brisket with blueberry sauce (drool). There's just so much flavor in their creative tacos. And speaking of flavor...

These tacos are packed with flavor. That was the first comment the hubby made after trying them. Actually, it was just that one comment and then these tacos were magically gone from his plate. He's not the lover of Mexican dishes that I am, so I was pleasantly surprised. There's only a couple of spices that flavor the shrimp, but those few flavors pack a punch. Top the shrimp off with crunchy cabbage and fresh made salsa, guacamole, and lime sour crema? Holy good guacamole!

And now I feel I must share this injustice with my readers. My favorite Mexican restaurant in town closed! They had amazing fish-bowl sized Patron margaritas that could knock your socks off. The type of margaritas that make any dinner taste amazing. Sigh. Just like Chinese food, I'm now relegated to only getting my Mexican fix by my own hands. It's just not the same when you have to prepare it and clean up the kitchen that looks like it's had a bomb dropped on it. 

So in the meantime, I'll continue to wait patiently for a new Mexican restaurant in town and keep my fingers crossed it's decent. On the other hand, dear readers, if any of you know a restauranteur looking for a new market, there's a HUGE niche where I live due to the complete lack of options. And please hurry- must. have. enchiladas.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Ingredients:

Lime Sour Crema-
1/3 cup fat free sour cream
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder

Chipotle Shrimp-
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp canola oil

Tacos-
tortillas or crunchy taco shells
thinly sliced cabbage
salsa
guacamole
cilantro, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. To make lime sour crema- combine sour cream, lime juice, and chile powder in a small bowl. Mix thoroughly. Set aside.
2. To prepare shrimp- combine shrimp with chile powders and salt. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes. Heat canola oil in a large skillet. When warm, add shrimp. Cook 3-4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.
3. To prepare tacos- spoon shrimp onto tortilla. Top with lime sour crema, cabbage, salsa, guacamole, and cilantro. Serve immediately.

*Recipe adapted from Heather Christo

Linked to: Weekend Potluck