Anyone who has ever been to the restaurant Chili’s knows that they have an awesome bunch of appetizers. My personal favorite, and one that we get pretty much every time we visit, is the southwestern rolls. These rolls are a deep-fried decadency served with a cool, tangy avocado ranch sauce. The southwestern rolls are actually flautas, a traditional Mexican dish. They’re actually very easy to recreate at home, and it doesn’t take too much preparation. We made them on the fly one night after a hard craving hit, and ended up turning them into an entire meal at about 1:00 am. Trust me when I say that they were even better than the ones from Chili’s! I think they’d make a cute appetizer when entertaining as well. Give ‘em a try, and let me know what you think.
Ingredients:
Chicken breast, 1
Vegetable oil, 1 T
Red bell pepper, 2 T
Green onion, 2 T
Frozen corn, 1/3 cup
Black beans, ¼ can
Frozen spinach, 2 T
Fresh jalapenos, diced, 2 T
Fresh Italian parsley, ½ T
Cumin, ½ t
Chili powder, ½ t
Cayenne pepper, a dash
Pepper jack cheese, shredded, 1 cup
Flour tortillas, 6”-7”, 5
What To Do:
Cut the red pepper into a small dice, around 1/4″ x 1/4″ x 1/4″.
Combine with diced green onion in a small bowl and set aside before beginning to cook the chicken.
Preheat a grill to very high heat. Lightly coat the chicken with oil and place them on the grill; cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper on each side while cooking.
Here’s a tip for cooking chicken breast: if you have a thick piece, use a fillet knife to cut it in half lengthwise. This way, you’ll get more yield from the chicken.
Set the chicken aside to cool at room temperature; when cool, dice into small cubes.
Sauté the green onion and bell pepper in a tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Make sure you preheat the pan and just sauté until tender; do not overcook.
Mix together the corn, beans, spinach, jalapeños, parsley, chili powder, cumin, cayenne and salt in another small bowl.
Add the diced chicken to the corn mixture; add to the pan. Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low (or completely remove the pan from the heat) and sprinkle the cheese over the mixture. Stir in until evenly distributed and melting.
Place the tortillas in a plastic zip-lock bag and microwave on high for about 30 seconds to steam and make them pliable.
Place 1/5 of the chicken mixture onto the lower 1/3 of the tortilla, centered from side-to-side. Fold in the sides of the tortilla, and then roll up as tight as possible.
Weave a toothpick through the loose flap and place seam-side down on a plate. Continue with the remaining tortillas and chicken mixture.
Cover the eggrolls with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, if possible.
Pan fry eggrolls at 375° on one side until the bottom is golden brown, then flip to the other side and do the same. Repeat with remaining eggrolls.
Drain on a wire rack with paper towel underneath. Cut at a slight diagonal angle before arranging on a plate with a dipping sauce in the middle.
Finished Product:
Flautas are small, flute-shaped tacos that typically consist of a small tortilla, rolled up with some type of filling (usually beef or chicken). Breakfast flautas, vegetable flautas, and even dessert flautas are alternatives.
