Chicken & Black Bean Flautas with Tomatillo Salsa

I wanted to make my mom a flavorful and very tastey Mexican inspired dish. I found a recipe that I liked, but I wanted to make a few changes to add more flavor and have the addition of meat. Having my Aunt Pam in the kitchen always helps coming up with the new additions to the recipe!

Start by taking the shell/skin off the tomatillos and placing the whole tomatillo, jalapeno, skinned garlic cloves, and skinned onion in a skillet on medium heat. When covering the pan with tin foil or a lid it will make the vegetables start to sweat and blacken faster.

The recipe suggested that once the vegetables cooled you should skin the tomatillos and take the seeds of the jalapeno off, but to add a little bite to the salsa we decided to keep the skins and seeds. Chop them up and throw them into your blender or food processor. Add in some lime juice (I used the entire lime instead of half) and salt and pepper to taste.

Next, start cooking the chicken in a skillet. Aunt Pam chopped the chicken and threw it into the skillet with chicken broth. The recipe called for vegetable broth and no chicken meat but I decided to go ahead and add in the chicken to the flauta changing the vegetable broth to chicken broth. While the chicken cooked we chopped the fresh cilantro and garlic to go in with the black beans and spices.

Once the beans are soft and ready to be pureed, drain the juice through a colander over a bowl (you want to save the juice). 

 Throw the drained bean mixture into the blender. We were going to rinse out the left over salsa but thought we would leave it in there to blend into the bean puree to add some extra flavor. Add in the garlic and cilantro and some fresh lime juice. Now you can puree the mixture. If it is too dry, add in the juice you saved in the bowl, one tablespoon at at time. Now you're almost done! Chop up the fresh tomatoes and green onion. 

Now you can plate the flautas! Start by taking a tortilla and smearing on the bean puree. Add in the cooked chicken, and throw on some of the fresh tomatoes and onions. Top with shredded Colby cheese. Roll tightly and place seam side down in a glass dish. I added some extra cheese on top of the flautas as well. Cook until golden brown, top with salsa and enjoy!

Recipe from Kitchen Aid: Best Love Recipes Book
Salsa
1 jalapeno pepper
1 pound tomatillos
1 small onion (I used half)
6 cloves garlic
juice of 1/2 lime (I used the whole lime)
salt and black pepper

In large, heavy dry skillet over medium-high heat, cook unpeeled jalapeno, tomatillos, onion, and garlic, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes or until soft and skins are blackened. Remove from skillet; allow to cool 5 minutes. Peel tomatillos, onion and garlic, and remove stem and seeds from jalapeno; (This is where I decided to leave on skins and keep the seeds in the jalapeno to add more heat to the salsa) place in blender or food processor with lime juice. Blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Flautas
1 can (15 ounces) black beans with liquid
1 cup vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
10 flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
1 cup seeded and chopped tomatoes (I didn't seed my tomatoes)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions (I only used half this)
I also added 2 large chicken breasts

Place beans and liquid, vegetable broth, 1/2 teaspoon salt, cumin, chili powder, and garlic in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes or until beans are very soft. Drain, reserving liquid. Puree drained bean mixture with cilantro, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and lime juice in blender or food processor until smooth. (Add reserved liquid 1 teaspoon at a time if beans are dry).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons bean puree on tortilla; sprinkle cheese, tomatoes, and green onions. Roll up very tightly and place seam side down in 13x9 inch baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas, rolling tightly to fit flautas into dish. (You should be able to fit 8 flautas across and 2 more on side of dish lengthwise). Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until crisp and brown and cheese is melted. Serve with salsa.

I chopped the raw chicken until cubes, and added to skillet with chicken broth. Removed the chicken and kept the broth to finish the above recipe.