Chicken Empanadas

As mentioned on this week's meal plan, if the chicken empanadas turned out well, I would post the recipe. Well, I am glad to say that they did. Next time I make them, I will try to make some changes, which I will note at the end of the recipe.

Yesterday during lunch time:

B: "These are yummy!"
Me: "I know!" :p

Byron laughed at how humble a response I made to his compliment.

Chicken Empanadas
Taken from Food Network Magazine, slightly modified by myself.

- 2 11-oz packages pie dough mix (I made my own since it takes no more than 3 minutes to do)
- 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken *
- 1 cup of chunky salsa
- 1 cup of shredded Mexican cheese blend (I used cheddar since that's what I had)
- All purpose flour for dusting
- Bread crumbs for sprinkling on top

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, salsa and cheese.
2. On a flour-dusted surface, roll out the dough to a 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3-inch-round cutter (I used the lid of one of my pans), cut out as many possible circles. Place about 1 tablespoon chicken mixture in the center of each circle (I added more since my circles were bigger). Moisten the edges with water. Fold the circles in half and pinch to seal. Pierce the tops with a fork. Top with bread crumbs for texture.
3. Place the empanadas on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes, or until golden. Serve hot.

Future modifications:
Next time I make these I'll probably put less chicken and instead add some black beans. I think some cream cheese would have been good in it as well.

* I like to keep a small ziplock bag in the freezer where I can put any leftover, already cooked, shredded chicken from previous meals. This allowed this recipe to be little to no hassle for me to make since the meat was already taken care of. All I had to do is take the bag out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw.