Easy (yet Awesome) Chicken Empanadas

Total Time: 49 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 14 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2-2 cups cooked chicken (i like to shred a rotisserie chicken)
• 1 cup mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 1 (4 1/2 ounce) can green chilies, chopped (i use old el paso)
• 1 (14 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, chopped (can use more or less depending on your liking)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (should just coat the bottom of the pan)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes (can adjust to your liking)
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 3 pie crusts, prepared (i use the pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts)
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 -2 teaspoon chili powder

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400f degrees.
• 2 heat oil over med-high heat in a large skillet.
• 3 saute onions and garlic about 4 minutes, until onions are translucent.
• 4 add cumin, cayenne pepper, chili flakes and dried oregano. make sure to mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• 5 add black beans, chicken and green chilies. salt and pepper to taste. cook for around 2 minutes until incorporated and heated through.
• 6 add chicken stock a little at a time, just to moisten the mixture. you may not need to use the entire 1/4 cup. you want to make sure that the mixture is moist but not soupy. simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
• 7 take mixture off burner and let cool to room temperature.
• 8 add cheese and mix thoroughly.
• 9 roll out dough onto floured surface.
• 10 cut 4" circles out of the dough (i like to use a medium sized cereal bowl to cut the circles, but you can make yours smaller or larger).
• 11 fill the middle of each circle with about 1.5 - 2 tbl of the mixture. don't overfill. fold each circle in half (sealing in the mixture) and crimp the ends with a fork to close the dough.
• 12 brush tops with egg yolks and sprinkle with chili powder.
• 13 cook for 12-14 minutes at 400°f.
• 14 enjoy!