Secrets from the Cookie Princess: Beef and Bean Chimichangas

It's no secret that we love Mexican food. One of my favorite things about Mexican is that it's simple to make (easy for throwing together after work) and I generally have all the components in the fridge or pantry. So these chimichangas, baked up with seasoned beef, beans, veggies and cheese, are so delicious and were easy to make. As a weeknight meal, I came home, cooked the meat and veggies, then assembled them. Once in the oven, I had some time to hang out and since the whole thing came together pretty quickly, we still ate at a reasonable hour (one of my requirements if I'm going to cook from scratch when I get home from work).

Is it the second Monday of the month? Then that mean's it's Secret Recipe Club reveal day! Each Monday a group of bloggers post a recipe they've made from another blogger's repertoire. Nobody knows who's featuring their blog until that day and it's a fun chance to visit new blogs and try something different. Visit some of the other bloggers in my group by checking out the blog hop at the bottom of this post. To learn more about Secret Recipe Club, click here. This month when I got my match, Bad Girls' Kitchen, I was intrigued by the collection of recipes. This blog has many contributors, serving as a community for bloggers to post recipes to share, tryout and find new favorites. Of course, the dessert feign in me was intrigued by the Buckeye Bars, and the lush in me thought Min's Cosmo and the Vodka Cocktails were worth checking out, but the Mexican food lover in me was over the moon at the options: Beef Enchiladas, Steak Fajitas, Tex Mex Chicken and Beans, and of course these Beef and Bean Chimichangas courtesy of Miss Niss, who can be found at Chapman 5 Fam. Visit this blog and the many contributors for lots more recipes. As far as adjustments, I didn't have a bell pepper on hand, so I swapped with a can of diced green chiles, and I reduced the amount of taco sauce in the meat mixture. I also used my homemade refried beans (from another SRC reveal). Baked up and topped with more taco sauce or salsa and sour cream, this is an excellent dinner that will be in our rotation.

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
4 ounce can diced green chiles
8 ounces taco sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
8 flour tortillas
2 cups refried beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
cooking spray
additional taco sauce, salsa and/or sour cream for garnish

In a medium skillet, brown ground beef then drain off excess fat. Add diced onion, corn and green chiles, stirring to combine, and cook about 5 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Stir in taco sauce, chili powder, garlic and cumin to combine and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.

Gently warm tortillas in the microwave by wrapping in a damp paper towel and heating for 30-60 seconds. Remove meat mixture from heat and set up an assembly line with the tortillas, beans, beef and cheese. Spoon about 1/4 cup of refried beans down the center of a tortilla. Smear a spoonful of the beef mixture over the beans and top with 2 Tablespoons of cheese. Carefully wrap up and place seamside down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining tortillas and ingredients.