“Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there.”
— Unknown
Thanks to you all for the multitude of sweet birthday wishes yesterday. I enjoyed a splendid 70th with a few friends who came over for tapas. And Sir Ronald added an ice cream cake.
Since today is National Eat What You Want Day, I will share one of the items I created for yesterday’s birthday tapas spread.
Super Simple Chicken Taquitos
You can also make these with veggies, beef, combinations, or just cheese. Use your favorites!
Leftover chicken, shredded or chopped, seasoned to suit your taste
Cooked bacon, chopped
Sweet onion and/or peppers, finely chopped & microwaved 1 minute
10” soft flour tortillas (or zero carb or other wraps)
Queso or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (seasoned, if desired… see Notes)
Combine chicken, bacon, and veggies; warm slightly in microwave. Cut tortillas in half. Before filling, soften each for 15 seconds in an olive oil-sprayed skillet over low heat. Lay the softened tortilla half on your work surface with the straight edge facing you. Spread a heaping tablespoon of your chicken filling along the straight edge; top with cheese. (I also scatter a few shreds of cheese on the exposed section of the tortilla, as the melting cheese prevents the taquito from unraveling.) Roll up the taquito and place seam-side down on an oil-sprayed baking sheet. Repeat to make as many as you like. Place in 400°F oven for 7-8 minutes. Then use tongs to turn them over (adding more oil spray, if needed). Let cook another 5-6 minutes. Serve with a favorite picante sauce.
KISS Notes: I like to add some sass to the cheese by tossing it with some cumin, chili powder, finely chopped cooked chorizo, and a dash of garlic powder. I stir, then melt them all together. After refrigerating, the combo is perfect for spooning atop your filling. For more kick, include finely diced fresh or pickled jalapeños. To make the recipe extra easy, combine the chicken, bacon, and veggies ahead of time; then simply warm them up a touch before loading your taquitos. You can also deep fry taquitos, if preferred. Corn tortillas are usually fried. By the way, the only reason I cut the tortillas in half is because I want less wrap and more filling. Traditionally, you can simply place your filling on the lower third of a whole tortilla, for which you may prefer to use smaller tortillas.
