Southwest Burritos

Several weeks ago I was trying to come up with a healthy, fiber-filled lunch for The Honey to take to work. He was getting tired of soups and it was too cold for salads, so I started thinking about filling a tortilla with some yumminess. I started with leftover chicken and black beans, and went from there. The result? "Blog-worthy" were the exact words used by The Honey.

I have finally made them again and tweaked my recipe to get it just right.

Southwest Burritos
(serves 6)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c. frozen corn
½ c. instant brown rice (uncooked)
1 c. water
1 ½ c. leftover cooked chicken, chopped
½ c. roasted red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp. fajita seasoning
2 Tbsp. picante sauce or salsa
½ c. shredded sharp cheddar
6 tortillas

Bring beans, corn, rice, and water to a boil in a medium saucepan and simmer, covered, until rice is done (about 10 minutes).

While this is simmering, pull out your leftover chicken. As long as it isn't BBQ chicken, it doesn't really matter how it's seasoned. I have used garlic chicken and grilled basil chicken - both are fabulous. You could also use leftovers from a roasted chicken if you have it. Just chop it up and use it!

Now set aside the chicken and chop up those roasted red peppers. I usually buy the strips so minimal chopping is required.

At this point your rice should be about finished. Remove the lid and add the chicken and peppers to the saucepan, along with the fajita seasoning and picante sauce. If you prefer, you can use salsa, but we are picante sauce fans around here.


Stir it all up and let it simmer till everything is heated through.



Now remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese.





Spread 1/6 of filling on tortilla of your choice. This time it just so happened that we had some jalapeno tortillas lying around that my sister bought. They add a little kick if you like it spicy! If not, just use regular or whole wheat tortillas.



Roll it up like a burrito and cook for a couple minutes on each side in a medium-hot frying pan. This makes the outside of the burrito a little crunchy and helps it hold its shape better while serving and eating. (No oil or cooking spray required!)



Finally, be sure to wrap up those leftovers in foil to take for lunch! Store in the refrigerator. When reheating, simply unwrap and discard the foil. Place the burrito on a paper towel and microwave for 45 to 60 seconds.

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

Last month at church we had a kind of recipe swap night where we all brought our five best "go to" recipes.  Since I hadn't gone into labor yet (despite it being the night before my due date!) I went to the activity and came home with dozens of new recipes to try.  Exciting, isn't it??

Now, here we are 4 weeks after I've had the baby and I've finally had the chance to try out some of these new recipes!  One of the first I had to try was this scrumptious looking recipe for Basalmic Chicken. I got it from my friend Maria, along with the note that it's her and husband's favorite Weight Watchers Recipe.  I'm not sure who gets the credit, but KUDOS to them!  It was fantastic!  My favorite part is actually the mushrooms because they absorb so much flavor.  I could have skipped the chicken and eaten piles of the mushrooms.

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, divided
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 large garlic, minced or crushed
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz. button mushrooms, halved or quartered
1/3 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled

Cut your chicken breasts into 4-oz portions (about the size of your palm).  I had one really large breast and one average-sized, so I ended up with 5 pieces instead of 4.

Preheat a medium-sized pan on the stove.  Coat with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix together 2 Tbsp of the balsamic vinegar, the garlic, and the mustard.  This is your marinade.  Coat the chicken in the marinade and place in the pan.  Pour any remaining marinade into the pan as well.

Cook until chicken is done.  If all of the liquid cooks out of the pan, you may need to add a couple of tablespoons of water to keep the sauce from burning.

While chicken is cooking, prepare the mushrooms.  In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the remaining tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, and thyme

After chicken is done cooking, remove from pan and place in a covered container to keep warm.  Do not clean out the pan.  It will add more flavor to your mushrooms!  This is what mine looked like.

Into this pan, I poured the broth mixture and the mushrooms.

Then I cooked the mushrooms until they were done.  You can tell mushrooms are done by their darker color and the fact that they have shrunk down in size.  If you aren't sure, eat one.  This is my favorite method in testing for "done-ness"!

Serve the chicken with the mushrooms on top, or (in my house) without the mushrooms for the kiddos.

Either way, it is a flavorful, low-calorie dish!

Creamy Spinach & Chicken Pasta

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted!  Contrary to how it may appear, I have been doing some cooking lately.  But I will confess, it was so stinking HOT here this summer that I didn't cook nearly as much as I normally do.  We had about 6 weeks in a row where it was over 100 degrees almost every day.  In case you were wondering, this really doesn't mix well with being pregnant.

However, this tasty little concoction came from one of those nights in early summer where I didn't mind a little extra heat from my stove.  I had spinach and mushrooms that needed to be eaten along with some leftover grilled chicken, and I knew I could come up with something.  So I got to work.  The original recipe only made 2 one-cup servings, so I doubled it for your benefit.  Just remember that what you see pictured cooking is only half the recipe!


Creamy Spinach & Chicken Pasta


2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
3-4 cloves minced garlic 

3 c. fresh spinach
2 heaping Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 c. low-fat cottage cheese, pureed in blender
1 c. low-fat milk
3 tsp. dried basil or 3 Tbsp fresh basil  
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 c. shredded parmesan (not grated!!)
2-3 large chicken breasts, grilled and diced
4 c. cooked pasta

Heat olive oil in a large pan.  Add mushrooms and garlic.  Saute for about 5-10 minutes or until mushrooms are done.

While mushrooms are cooking, you want to prep two other things.  First, you want to roughly chop the fresh spinach.

The second thing you need to do is pull out your blender or food processor and puree that cottage cheese with the milk.  You don't want lumpy sauce.  Trust me.

Eventually your mushrooms will be done and look something like this:

Add spinach and cook another minute or two until spinach is wilted.  (Tip: If you're using fresh basil in this recipe, this may be a good time to add that, too.)

It should look something like this when you're ready to move on:

 Sprinkle corn starch over pan and toss to let the moisture in the pan absorb it.

Pour in your milk and cottage cheese mixture and simmer until thickened.

Add Parmesan cheese, salt/pepper to taste, and dried basil.  This is when you want to make sure you're tasting this dish and have the seasonings the way you like it.

 Add diced chicken and mix well.

 Doesn't this look divine??

 

Serve 1 cup of sauce over 1 cup of pasta for a very filling meal!