I am obviously on a cooking kick because right now I have too much to share.  I made this dish this afternoon for lunch and dinner (since I work evenings) and am very well pleased with the results!  If you like Mexican food here’s a way for you to do it yourself.

What you will need:

6-10 in. whole wheat flour tortillas
1/2 c chopped onion
1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1-8.5 oz can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 c purchased green salsa or red salsa (I went with tomatillo verde – spicy)
1/4 c snipped fresh cilantro
3 oz reduced fat monetery jack (I used Mexican blend) cheese (3/4 c shredded)

1. Preheat oven to 425. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Wrap tortillas in foil and heat in the oven for 5 mins.

2. For the filling, coat an unheated large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 min or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add black beans. Using a fork or potato masher,mash beans slightly. Stir in corn, tomatoes, and 1/2 c salsa. Heat through and stir in cilantro.

3. For assembly, spoon about 1/3 cup filling into each tortilla just below its center. Fold bottom edge of each tortilla up and over filling. Fold opposite sides in and over filling. Roll up from the bottom and if necessary secure edges with toothpicks. Place filled tortillas on prepared baking sheet with seam sides down. Coat top and sides of the filled tortillas with cooking spray.

4. Bake for 10-12 mins or until tortillas are golden brown and crisp. To serve, sprinkle with cheese and top with remaining salsa. Makes 6 servings.

***Take note: working with whole wheat tortillas (as this is a low calorie recipe) is a bit more cumbersome in comparison to flour or corn tortillas.  If you have a few chimis that are not going to hold a perfect burrito-like shape before you put them in the oven (like I did) do not worry.  Once they are baked, they are crispy and will pretty much hold until you put the salsa on top which softens it up again.  Also, as you saw in the ingredient list I went with a tomatillo verde sauce (I prefers this over reds) and this was very spicy.  Just know that when you choose a ‘level’ of spiciness of the salsa it will go in and outside the chimichanga.  Lastly, I had enough of the filling to make an extra chimi.  I do not know why this is as I followed the recipe exactly.  You can also go with larger-sized tortillas if you want to stuff more filling in each.  These chimis came out to be about a 1/3 of the size of restaurants (which are ginormous) – perfect for pairing with rice or salad!

Nutritional Information (per chimichanga):

Calories: 315

Total Fat: 11 g

Cholesterol: 10 mg

Protein: 16 g

Carbohydrate: 47 g

Fiber: 10 g

Sodium: 1147 mg