Although not an authentic Mexican dish, these have become quite popular at my house! Therefore I thought I’d include them in my Mexican Food celebration. Doesn’t get more Mexican than beans, cheese and jalapenos! These finger treats are just a new way to enjoy those key ingredients!
This “wrap” is soft yet substantial enough to pick up and eat with your hands. These are not at all crisp. These are great for snacks or to serve at parties. If you don’t eat pork rinds, you could substitute in some low-carb bake mix instead, but carb count would go up and wrapper texture as well. The only way I can afford the carbs in beans and keep these pliable to fold is by using 0-carb pork rinds in these.
Boy, oh, boy, were these ever good! Ended up the jalapeno pepper I used was too hot for me and I had to pull some of it off mine, but this was a nice snack served warm. You should be able to reheat these quite nicely, too. This recipe is not suitable until you reach Atkins Phase 2 and are at the starchy vegetable rung of the carb-reintroduction ladder in that phase.
INGREDIENTS:
1½ c. shredded Cheddar cheese
2 T. cream cheese
½ tsp. chili powder or Taco seasoning
1 egg, beaten
1½ c. pork rind flour
2/3 c. canned refried pinto beans
¼ c. Monterey Jack Cheese
1 medium jalapeno, seeded and sliced into very thin rounds
VARIATION: Add 1 T. taco-seasoned browned ground beef atop the beans before finishing construction.
DIRECTIONS: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 375º. In your microwave, melt the Cheddar cheese, cream cheese and chili powder in a glass bowl for about 1 minute on HI. When fully melted, remove and stir once. Add the beaten egg and pork rind flour. Quickly stir together vigorously with a fork until ingredients appear to be uniformly distributed and it forms a uniform ball of dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Divide into 10 equal portions, slightly roll into a ball and with fingers, press onto parchment in 2″ circles that should be slightly thinner than 1/4″. If sticky to work with, dampen your fingers with a bit of water.
Pop into 375º oven for about 7 minutes or until dry in the center to your finger touch. Remove from oven and spoon 1 T. beans onto each dough round. Spread beans out a bit but not all the way to the edges of the dough circles. Carefully do this as the dough is still very soft and not fully cooked. Place 2 slices of jalapeno on each one (or 1 if you don’t like things spicy). Garnish each dough round with about 1 tsp. Jack cheese. Pop pan back into oven and bake these for about 10 minutes more or until beans have had a chance to warm up and the Jack cheese is melted. Remove from oven and fold them in half. Press slightly in middle so they will stay folded. Serve warm. I suspect these would reheat nicely in your oven set at 350º.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 10. Each mini taco contains:
126 calories, 10.96 g fat, 3.85 g carbs, 0.99 g fiber, 2.86 g NET CARBS, 8.95 g protein, 353 mg sodium
Buttoni's Low-Carb Recipes 