Salsa Chicken Burritos

I guess I've really been on a Mexican kick lately, with my guacamole, salsa, and quesadillas. Get ready for one more - time for a chicken burrito. And then I will move on to Italian. I can't believe that hubby has been gone for several weeks now and I haven't made pasta yet. Pasta, that thing which I love and he thinks is boring as hell (unless it has meatballs or Italian sausage in it). Why oh why haven't I attempted pesto or a sun-dried tomato sauce or something? I have certainly been slacking on my opportunity to make it when he's not around, so I'll do that soon. For today, though, back to the Mexican theme.



I don't quite remember how I stumbled across this recipe, but I think it had something to do with looking for recipes that involved salsa, since I had so much already made. I think it was also the fact that a reviewer said something about making a bunch of burritos and freezing them for later meals that appealed to me, too.

Whatever it was, I decided to make it.



I started off with some chicken breasts in tomato sauce on medium-high. The recipe said to use 2 breasts and a 4 ounce can of tomato sauce, but I increased it to 3 breasts and almost a whole 15 ounce can. I've seen those little teeny-tiny cans at the store, but I've never bought one because until now, I'd never seen a recipe that called for such a silly amount of tomato sauce. Regardless, the recipe said that I should boil the chicken in the sauce, and I wasn't exactly sure how to accomplish that with only a half cup of sauce, so upping the amount seemed a good idea to me. Anyway, cutting back too much would just mean dumping the rest of the can down the drain, and that seemed a shame.

After it came to a boil, I added some of my homemade salsa, a package of taco seasoning, cumin, garlic, and chili powder and let it simmer for a while.



Mmmm it was starting to look yummy.



The next step was using a fork to shred the chicken. I had a hard time with this because I refused to let the tines of either fork (I used two) touch the pan, as it has a beautiful non-stick surface, but I eventually came up with this.



I added a bit of hot sauce and then let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so, then transferred it to a plastic bowl and continued shredding it.

And with that, it was ready to be stuffed into burritos! I warmed up a few flour tortillas, spooned the filling into it, topped with some shredded Colby Jack cheese, and wrapped it up. With a little homemade salsa and some more cheese, it was good to go!



To be completely honest, even as I was preparing the burritos, I wasn't super excited about the food. It smelled yummy, but there was something odd about the chicken-simmered-in-tomato-sauce thing. I don't know WHY that was weird, as I use enchilada sauce all the time, and isn't that pretty much the same thing? And what about chicken parmesan? Even so, it did seem strange to me. But then, I tasted it. It was...

*tries to think of words besides "delicious," "yummy," "flavorful," and "so good!"*

... definitely a pleasant surprise! It was hearty, gooey, warm, enticing. Gratifying, slightly spicy, and simply perfect. In fact, as soon as I finished burrito #1, I went back up to the counter and made #2. I made four more to freeze for lunches, too.

The next night, I used the little bit of filling that was left to top some crumbled tortilla chips, topped with more salsa and cheese, and had the best taco salad that I have had in ages.



Excellent. Recipe is in my TasteBook - click on the widget to see. :)

Tomorrow morning, I am flying to Atlanta for a week-long school shindig, so you won't see another post for a little while. I promise to return!