You may remember not that long back Taco Bell had a special burrito by the name of the "Beefy Crunch Burrito." I was never a big fan of Taco Bell until they paired this burrito with the $5 box for the Super Bowl. It had their taco meat, nacho cheese, sour cream, mexican rice and Flamin' Hot Fritos inside. It was my favorite item and so I wanted to see if I could make it at home. I succeeded and it was delicious, but quite time consuming. They have since gotten rid of this tasty burrito, so I may have to make it myself again sometime. I'm not going to post a full recipe on this one because I had to get recipes for all the different parts of the burrito. So, go ahead and pull your favorite recipes yourself for each component.
Here are the basic components...
Ingredients:
Cheese sauce
Sour cream
Taco seasoned ground beef
Flamin' hot Fritos
Mexican rice
Burrito size flour torillas
Directions:
1. Prepare all the components and warm the tortillas
2. Spoon some taco meat into the tortilla along with some cheese sauce, sour cream, mexican rice and sprinkle a few Fritos into it.
3. Roll into a burrito and enjoy!
I've never had a chimichanga before I made this recipe. Boy, was it worth the wait! I substituted the refried beans for mexican rice inside the chimichanga, but adding both would probably be delicious too.
Here's the recipe adapted from the Food Network.
Prep Time: 20 min | Cooking Time: 30 min | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
½ White Onion, chopped
1 ½ Cloves Garlic, chopped
½ Jalapeno Pepper, diced (remove seeds for less heat)
¾ tsp Chili Powder
¼ tsp Ground Cumin
⅛ tsp Ground Cinnamon
Kosher Salt
½ small Tomato, chopped, plus more for topping
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 ¼ cups Shredded Rotisserie Chicken
2 Tbsp Sour Cream
½ 15-ounce Can Refried Beans
2 10- Inch Flour Tortillas
½ cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese, plus more for topping
Mexi-Sauce, for topping (see below)
Shredded Lettuce, for topping
Mexican Rice, for serving
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Melt the butter with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet; transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoons oil in the skillet. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeno and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon salt; toast 30 seconds. Add the tomato and cilantro and cook until slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken and sour cream and warm through. Remove from the heat.
2. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with some of the butter-oil mixture. Spread 1 tablespoon refried beans down the center of each tortilla, leaving a 2-inch border on both ends. Top with 1/2 cup chicken mixture and 1/8 cup cheese. Fold in the ends and roll up.
3. Put the chimichangas seam-side down on the baking sheet; brush with the butter-oil mixture. Bake 8 to 10 minutes per side, brushing again after you flip. Top with the sauce, more cheese, lettuce and tomato. Serve with rice and the remaining beans.
Make Chi-Chi's Mexi-sauce:
Saute 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 chopped garlic clove in a skillet with vegetable oil. Add a pinch each of chili powder, cumin, sugar and salt; cook 30 seconds. Stir in one 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles (drained and rinsed); cook 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and simmer until thickened, then puree. Stir in 1/8 cup chopped cilantro
I have tried several variations on these recipes, but these 2 are my favorite. I never used to like tomato soup, but now pairing it with a grilled cheese sandwich, is one of my preferred comfort foods. It pairs especially well with studying for midterms!
What I like to do is cook the full batch of soup, and freeze what I don't immediately eat.
To freeze: I labeled some ziptop bags with the date and "Tomato Soup" and then spooned 1 cup of the leftover soup into bags until the soup is gone. Squeeze all the air out of the bags, and then lie flat on a cookie sheet. Stack them up and then put the whole cookie sheet into the freezer. Once frozen solid, you can stack them and remove the cookie sheet from the freezer.
To reheat: Heat a sauce pan to medium-low and pour the contents of the bag into pan. You can either add cheese to the soup recipe itself, or add it during the reheating process (most others recommend to add it during the reheating process because of separation, but as long as you reheat the soup slowly, you should be able to avoid separation).
Here are the recipes adapted from Food Network. The grilled cheese is here and tomato soup is here.
Prep Time: 20-25 min | Cooking Time: 1 hour | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 4-6
Ingredients for Tomato Soup:
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
3-4 Slices of Bacon, finely chopped
1 Spanish Onion, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
1 Stalk Celery, chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
5 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
4.5 cups Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 (28-ounce) Can Whole, peeled tomatoes
3 Parsley Sprigs
3 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
1 Bay Leaf
1 cup Heavy Cream
1.75 tsp Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Directions for Tomato Soup:
1. Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, until crisp and most of the fat has rendered, about 1 minute. Once cooked, lower the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Pour in the broth and crush the tomatoes through your fingers into the pan. Bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme, and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine (I never had twine, so I just threw in the herbs and picked them out at the end) and add to the pot.
3. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
4. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the puree to the pot and reheat over medium heat.
5. Whisk in the heavy cream, salt, and pepper, to taste. Divide among warm soup bowls and serve immediately.
6. Freeze any leftovers, directions are at the top.
Prep Time: 15 min | Cooking Time: 20 min | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 2
Ingredients for Grilled Cheese:
½ cup Shredded Muenster Cheese (About 2 Ounces)
½ cup Shredded Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese (About 2 Ounces)
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (About 1/2 Ounce)
4 slices Thick Sandwich Bread
1 - 1.5 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened
Directions for Grilled Cheese:
1. Combine all three cheeses in a bowl. Divide evenly among 4 bread slices and top with the remaining bread. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the sandwiches in batches, adding the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons butter as needed, until the cheese melts and the bread is golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve the sandwiches with the soup.
