Bean Chimichangas and Spanish Rice

Monday I finally got a rice cooker! I'd been wanting one for so long and I finally got one. It's a cute little guy, perfect for just Trevor and I. Well, I wanted to break in my new kitchen toy and needed a main dish to go with my rice. So, I happened upon this recipe for bean chimichangas. YUM! Fast and easy. You can view the original recipe here. This was an excellent easy recipe. I had Trevor in the kitchen to help me and we made these in probably about 20 minutes.

Crappy picture I know, but Trevor and I had both eaten a whole chimichanga before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. I was torn. I didn't want to stop eating these for long enough to get a good picture. I know food is like an art on other blogs, but here - I'm realistic. My food doesn't often turn out pretty, but it sure does turn out tasty. Anyway, I combined our plates quickly, snapped a picture and then went back to eating. 

If you're aiming for healthy, this might not be the best meal, but it sure is good comfort food. And really, if you take out the half block of Velveeta, it's really pretty healthy. 

Ingredients: 

Tortillas

1/2 can of Rotel

1 can refried beans

1/2 brick of Velveeta. 

Egg whites. (we used 1 egg and still had plenty)

Cheese (If the Velveeta isn't enough for you :)

1-2 tbsp of veggie oil

1. Warm beans, Rotel and Velveeta in a pot. Make sure the Velveeta is all mixed in. 

2. Warm up a pan on the stove with a little bit of oil. We are going to flash fry the chimis. (This was a new technique that I hadn't tried before. Took a little getting use to, my stove is tends to be extra hot, so I burned the first two). 

3. On a tortilla, put some of the bean mixture into it. I found that it naturally wanted to go flat, like a soup on the tortilla. So this part was a slight challenge. 

4. Baste a little bit of the egg whites around the edge of the tortilla. This acts as a sealant. Then fold up the tortilla in a burrito like style.  Top and bottom, then left and right side. 

5. Flash fry these in the pan on the stove. I only left mine on there for about 30 seconds on each side. But my stove has 2 heat options. High or off. There is no medium or low. 

6. Next, move them to a pan and let them back in the oven for about 12 minutes at 350. 

How easy right! What's awesome, is we had leftover bean/Velveeta mixture. Last night we put it on top of our baked potatoes. Wow. YUM! This was an excellent dinner. It had a bit of a kick to it, so be cautious with the Rotel, it holds a lot of heat! I also made some quick Spanish rice to go with it. You can view the original recipe here.

I just put all these ingredients in the rice cooker, gave it a stir and pressed start!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of long grain rice. 

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can of Rotel tomatoes (I only put in a few spoonfuls and it was really spicy!)

2 tbsp of melted butter

1 tsp of cumin

Enjoy!

-SamiMae