Ground Steak Taquitos & Salsa

I looove taquitos. When I first moved into my own place my first year of college, I was pretty poor like most college kids, and I practically lived off frozen boxed foods like pizza rolls and taquitos. These taquitos are reminiscent of the ones I used get way back when. However, these are baked so they are much healthier than their boxed counterpart. I used eye of round steak that I cooked and then ran through a food processor, but you could always use ground sirloin if you don't have a food processor or you just want to simplify the recipe a bit. I am also going to share with you my recipe for my husband's quick restaurant salsa. It goes great on everything! Tacos, breakfast burritos, fajitas, and taquitos of course. Go grab some corn tortillas and get to rolling!

Ground Steak Taquitos

1/2 pound eye of round steak
steak seasoning
1 onion, diced
1 9oz can hot bean dip
3 tbs sour cream
3 tbs salsa
1 1/2 cups mexican cheese blend, shredded
salt, to taste
yellow corn tortillas
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.  Cut steak into 1-inch cubes and sprinkle with steak seasoning. Add diced onion and steak to skillet. Let them cook together until the steak is done and the onions have began to caramelize. Drain grease if needed. Add steak and onions to a food processor, and pulse it until steak and onions are ground into small pieces.Transfer steak and onion mixture to a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients through the cheese, and mix well. Add salt if needed.
2. Place 3 tortillas at a time on a plate in between 2 paper towels, and heat for 20 seconds. Working quickly place 2 tbs of steak filling in the center of tortilla and roll tightly. Place seam side down on the sprayed cookie sheet. Repeat this process until all filling is used up. Lightly spray taquitos with cooking spray.
5. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are crispy and starting to brown. Let cool a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with sour cream and salsa.

Quick Restaurant Salsa

1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can Rotel original, drained
4 cloves garlic (2 tbs), finely diced
1 small can diced jalapenos, drained *
1 red onion, diced
2 tbs cilantro
salt, to taste

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until pureed. Chill 2 hours before serving.
*The can of jalapenos adds a lot of spice. Leave this out if you do not like spicy food.

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

My barbeque sauce and chicken was originally intended to be made into a pizza. But I just did not feel like making any bread today. So I improvised and found a bag of tortillas in the pantry and decided on quesadillas instead. I use a quesadilla maker, because I lack the grace it takes to flip a one without all of the filling falling out.  It is a one-use-only kitchen appliance that takes up space in my cabinet, but I love using it. If you are more graceful than me in the quesadilla department, feel free to make yours in a skillet. Try these, they are quick and delicious!

 

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

2 tbs butter

2 chicken breasts, diced

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

8 flour tortillas

cooking spray

 1. Heat 2 tbs of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced chicken and sliced onions to the pan. Cook together until chicken is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce to the pan and mix well.

2. Heat a clean skillet or quesadilla maker and spray with cooking spray. Lay down one tortilla and place a 1/2 cup of chicken mixture on top. Top with cheese and another tortilla. Spray the top with more cooking spray. Cook in quesadilla maker for a few minutes, or in a skillet, cook on each side for a couple of minutes. Repeat until all of the chicken mixture is used.

3. Transfer quesadillas to a clean plate and cut into triangles using a pizza cutter. Serve with sour cream.