Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas

The other day SP and I were watching 30-Minute Meals when Rachael Ray made Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas with a Black Bean and Corn Salad. He turned to me and asked if I'd make that meal this week, so of course I obliged.

I wanted to see if I could make this meal in 30 minutes, but I didn't read the directions for both dishes ahead of time so I made one fatal mistake - I made the chimichangas before I started the salad. The salad needed to sit for at least 15 minutes before serving, which would have been the perfect amount of time to make and bake the chimis. I clocked in at a full hour, with 15 minutes of that spent waiting for the corn to defrost.


We both really like the chimichangas with their smokey flavor (both from the smoked turkey and the chipotle), but we agreed there should have been less meat and more cheese. I could barely taste the Monterey Jack. Next time I'll use more cheese and less meat.


I really enjoyed the black bean salad, with the crunchy corn and red peppers. It was well seasoned with cumin, hot sauce and lime juice. Like Rachael said on the show, this would be an excellent filling for the chimis along with some cheese. Maybe I'll make another one today since I have more cheese and plenty of leftover salad.

UPDATE: For lunch today I made another chimichanga using some of the leftover black bean salad and a nice hunk of Jack cheese.


Personally, I liked this better with the salad and cheese. SP came home and was excited to see that I hadn't eaten the fourth smoked turkey chimi. He's a meat-lover at heart, but he did agree that less meat and more cheese was in order. I think the next time I make these I'll make his with the smoked turkey and mine with the salad so we're both happy.