Baked Taquitos and Mexican Restaurant Rice

We have yet to find a Mexican restaurant we like here. There's no Mexican place in the town we live in. There are two in the next town over, but apparently they aren't that super (or so we've heard). I'm sure there are lots of places in the city we could go to, but when it's cold, the idea of walking through the city doesn't sound particularly appealing.

As you have probably noticed, I make a lot of Mexican-style recipes at home to make up for our lack of restaurants. Luckily, I found this recipe the other day. Chicken taquitos are not my bag, but a vegetarian version sounded great.

Notes: If you have an onion, feel free to use that for the rice instead of the onion powder. I just used the powder because I didn't have an onion.

I'd use a colby jack or a cheddar in the taquitos. I used fontina and it was too mild. You could barely taste it.

This makes about 8 taquitos, so you'll have egg roll wrappers left over. If you want to use up all your wrappers, just double the filling recipe.

Ingredients for Taquitos
1 can black beans
1 cup frozen corn
Egg roll wrappers
1 small bunch cilantro
1 cup shredded cheese
2-3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Hot sauce, to taste
Small bowl of water
Melted butter (optional)

Ingredients for Rice
2 cups instant rice
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
4-5 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt
Butter or oil

Directions: Heat oven to 375.

Drain the beans (don't rinse). Mince the garlic for the taquitos and chop the cilantro. When the beans are drained, put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mash them a little with a potato masher. Add in the corn, cilantro, garlic, hot sauce, cumin, chili powder, cheese, and salt. Mix to combine.

To make a taquito, put approximately three teaspoons of filling in the middle of the egg roll wrapper (the wrapper should be diagonal). Moisten the edges of the wrapper by dipping your finger in the bowl of water and running it along the edge. Bring the bottom corner of the wrapper over the filling and tuck it under. Pull in the sides and then roll it up. Place each taquito seam-side down on a foil-lined or oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all the filling is gone.

Brush the taquitos with melted butter. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

While the taquitos are baking, make the rice. Mince the garlic. Melt butter or heat oil on medium-high in a skillet with a lid. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in rice and toast for just a minute. Season with salt and onion powder. Pour in tomatoes and water. Turn the heat to medium and cover. Cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

When the taquitos are done, serve them with a side of rice and enjoy!