Baked Vegetarian Taquitos

A taquito meaning a small roll or a rolled taco in Spanish refers to the Mexican dish of a rolled tortilla with a meat or cheese filling that is crisp fried. The dish is called as 'flauta' meaning flute in Spanish when they are larger in size than taquitos. Commonly corn tortillas are used to make taquitos and are typically topped with sour cream, guacamole, salsa and crumbled queso fresco, the Mexican cheese. I went with a bean-veggie filling and baked them for a guilt free version. These taquitos make a great, filling snack. 

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 big onion, finely minced
3/4 cup grated carrot
3/4 cup cooked black beans
2 cups chopped spinach
1 tbsp. taco seasoning
Salt to taste
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese / Cheddar cheese
Tortillas (I used 8 inch whole wheat ones.)

Method:
* Heat oven to 450 deg F.
* Heat oil in a saute pan and add onion. Fry until it turns translucent. Add spinach and carrot and cook until done. Next add black beans, salt and taco seasoning and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool a bit.
 
* Spoon a tbsp. of filling onto the center of each tortilla and top with cheese. (I actually wanted the taquitos to be filling and added more stuffing, ending up with chubby taquitos.)
* Roll the tortilla tightly around the filling.
 
* Place the tortillas, seam side down on the baking sheet.
 
* Spray or brush with oil and bake for about 10 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip and bake for another five minutes.
* Serve immediately when they are warm and crispy.
* Refrigerate the left overs and heat them again in the oven at 350 deg F before serving.
This is my entry under "Tortilla based dishes" for BM #53. Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking today.

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