Ah, Chimichangas – the favorite food of Deadpool. What a chimichanga consists of is essentially an American version of a Mexican recipe. As in you take a Mexican burrito and then, in that all too common American fashion, you deep fry the hell outta it!
Now that sounds like it’s right up the alley of yours truly, and that it is! But you read the title – healthy and family friendly. What’s that you say – ‘You bloody sell out Trev!’? Well the problem of being part of a family is I never used to get to cook chimichangas as they were too unhealthy for my wife and too spicy for my kids. So the recipe I’m going to share with you today is the less spicy and healthy (well – not healthy per se – healthier than usual would be more accurate) way to make them. Plus my version is a lot less hassle!
Ingredients
*1 x Old El Paso burrito kit – low fat version
(should contain 8 small tortillas, cooking seasoning and salsa)
*500gms of extra-lean beef mince.
*1 x 400gm can of Mexican style beans
(these already have the garlic and mild Mexican spices you need in them so don’t drain the can)
*1 x onion
*½ a red capsicum
*½ a green capsicum
*½ a cup of rice
*½ a lettuce
*2 cups of water
*1 cup of grated cheese
*Sour cream
*2 liters of rice bran oil
(has a very high smoke point and makes for low-calorie absorption, making it perfect for healthier deep frying)
Cooking Instructions
Step 1: Prepare your ingredients. Slice the capsicum and dice the onion. Put a small amount of the oil in a frying pan and the rest into your deep fryer. Put the deep fryer on a low heat. Shred lettuce. Boil 1 cup of water for rice.
Step 2: Lightly fry mince until pinkness recedes. Add capsicum, onion, beans, cooking seasoning and 1 cup of water. Simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Put rice on to boil. Take shredded lettuce and put down a layer on each plate. Nuke tortillas. Turn up deep fryer to high.
Step 4: Spoon mince mix into tortillas. Roll tortillas up and hold closed with a toothpick.
Step 5: One at a time, deep fry the burritos for about 2 minutes apiece.
Step 6: Take rice off boil and drain. Put chimichangas on top of lettuce. Top with cheese, salsa and sour cream. Add rice to sides of chimichangas.
And there you have it, about the healthiest version of a chimichanga you are likely to ever have! If you want the proper version then you can always throw in some jalapenos, cumin and garlic and replace the Mexican-style beans with refried ones. Enjoy!
Got a different Chimichanga recipe? Would love to read it in the comments section below!