Taquitos
Inspired by our frequent trips to Baja Fresh and our complete lack of anything else in the house, we came up with this fine little meal. The beans are prepared in a typical, but tasty, fashion. The fried tortilla shell gives the meal a little extra flair.
Ingredients
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 ounces baby portabella (cremini) mushrooms (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 14½ ounces canned, peeled, zesty (seasoned with mild green chiles) tomatoes (diced)
- 15 ounces canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup white rice
- for frying canola oil
- 4 flour tortillas
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
- 4½ ounces canned, chopped green chili peppers
Instructions
In a large frying pan, we heat the olive oil and saute the onions for a few minutes. We add the mushrooms and continue to cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are tender. We add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Then we add the chili powder and cumin and stir for a couple of minutes. As we add the canned tomatoes and black beans we lower the heat to maintain a simmer.
In a medium pot, we bring the water to a boil and add the rice. We lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, pulling the pot off at the beginning since our electric stove does not cool down quickly enough and the pot begins to boil over.
After 15 minutes, we get four bowls ready to form the fried tortillas into "bowls". We heat about a 1/2-inch of canola oil in another large frying pan. When the bottom of a wooden spoon inserted in the oil causes lots of bubbles, we carefully add a tortilla and fry for less than 30 seconds, until the bubbling slows. We turn the tortilla with tongs and fry for a few more seconds. Then we place it in a bowl and put another bowl on top to create the "tortilla bowl". When the oil is hot enough again, we repeat with another tortilla. When we have 2 bowls, we begin setting up the 2 portions, reusing the bowls for the remaining tortillas to be fried.
On a plate we place a fried tortilla bowl. They are not perfect (cracked) but they taste good. We add some cooked rice, beans, cheese, and chopped chiles and enjoy!