Easy Chicken Chimichangas -- When Tuesday Calls for Something Smoky and Simple

I got the vaccine. First dose. January 20, 2021. At the Convention Center downtown, in a line with hundreds of other essential workers — nurses, grocery store employees, firefighters, and one baker from the Lower Valley who carried her naturalization certificate in her purse because old habits die hard and the certificate is her talisman and she carries it everywhere, including to vaccination sites. The needle was small. The relief was enormous. The enormousness was not about the disease — it was about the future, because the vaccine means the future is coming, and the future means the dining room opens fully and the farmers' market returns and the customers come back and the bakery becomes the bakery again, not the pandemic version but the real version, the eight-table, line-out-the-door, Doña-Esperanza-at-the-corner-table version.

Sofia said: "Post-pandemic recovery plan Phase One begins when you're fully vaccinated." She has phases. The recovery has phases. She is fifteen and the recovery of a small bakery from a global pandemic has phases that she wrote on paper and taped to the bakery wall next to the production schedule and the ofrenda photographs, and the wall is the command center of the Gutierrez bakery empire, and the empire is eight tables wide and the dream of Anapra deep.

Diego is in his second semester of seventh grade, taking the school's most advanced STEM courses and supplementing them with MIT OpenCourseWare modules that he completes on weekends. He told me this week that he has finished the Introduction to Civil Engineering course and is now taking Structural Analysis. He is twelve. He is taking Structural Analysis. From MIT. On his laptop. In his bedroom. Next to Professor Waffles. The juxtaposition of MIT Structural Analysis and a stuffed bear named Professor Waffles is the most Diego thing in the world.

I made tostadas de tinga for the family — the smoky chipotle chicken on crispy tortillas, the quick-cooking meal that has become the Tuesday default because Tuesday is the middle of the week and the middle needs something easy and the easy needs something smoky and the smoky is the tinga and the tinga is Tuesday. Every day has a food now. Monday is tortilla soup. Tuesday is tinga. Wednesday is whatever's in the refrigerator. Thursday is something new (the experimental night, Sofia's idea). Friday is Rosa's chile colorado. Saturday is carne asada. Sunday is caldo de res. The week is a menu. The menu is a life. The life is a bakery. And the bakery is Rosa.

Tostadas de tinga are the Tuesday religion in our house, but when I want that same smoky chipotle spirit wrapped up and crisped in something the kids can grab and go — especially on a week when relief and recovery are still settling into my bones — these easy chicken chimichangas are where I land. There’s something about the crispy shell giving way to tender, seasoned chicken that feels like the week is holding itself together, and after standing in that vaccination line with my naturalization certificate tucked in my purse and my whole future suddenly feeling real again, I needed dinner to feel exactly like that: warm, sturdy, and dependably good.

Easy Chicken Chimichangas

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1/2 cup chipotle salsa or red enchilada sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 4 large flour tortillas (10-inch)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or cooking spray
• Sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo for serving

Instructions

1. Season the chicken. In a medium bowl, combine the shredded chicken, chipotle salsa, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Stir until the chicken is evenly coated in the sauce and spices.
2. Fill the tortillas. Lay a flour tortilla flat on a clean surface. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of the tortilla, then top with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese.
3. Fold and wrap. Fold the sides of the tortilla in over the filling, then roll up from the bottom tightly to form a sealed chimichanga. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
4. Cook until crispy. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chimichangas seam-side down in the pan and cook for 3–4 minutes per side, turning carefully, until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Alternatively, brush with oil and bake at 400°F for 20–22 minutes, flipping halfway through.
5. Rest and serve. Transfer chimichangas to a plate lined with paper towels and let rest for 2 minutes. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 31g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 680mg