mexican

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Bean Burritos are a pretty easy, healthy lunch standard around our house. How hard is it to drain a few cans of beans and throw them on a tortilla? The simplicity is why I didn’t starve to death in college. Well that and pizza rolls, but that’s for another day.

Chipotle Bean Burritos

If I were being completely honest though, bean burritos can be a little boring. So as Neil loves to do, he found a way to church up a few boring bean burritos a bit this weekend, and now I can’t stop eating them. Which I don’t have to feel bad about because they are veggie packed slathered with healthy Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I’m pretty much of the belief now that yogurt is my new applesauce when it comes to cooking and baking. But anyway, here is Neil’s Chipotle Bean Burrito recipe:

Ingredients:

via Pink Parsley/Cooking Light
2 teaspoons canola oil (for cooking)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup water or chicken/vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup fresh salsa
4 10-inch tortillas (your preference, we used these)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 ½ cups chopped spinach (destemmed)
6 tablespoons sliced green onion
6 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt
Shredded cheese (optional and to your preference)

Directions:

Chipotle Bean Burritos

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, chile powder, chipotle chile, cumin and salt and cook 1-2 minutes or until the smell takes over your kitchen.

Chipotle Bean Burritos

2. Add beans and water/broth, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to medium-low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in salsa and mash lightly to soften beans.

Chipotle Bean Burritos

3. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture down the center of each tortilla. Then top each with a serving of shredded cheese (optional), tomatoes, spinach and green onion. Finish it off with a slathered dob of Greek Yogurt and roll tightly. NOM immediately.

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Chipotle Bean Burritos

The ingredient list may seem a little daunting, but I assure you most of it is already in your pantry. The secret in my opinion to this wrap’s success is the adobo. It perfectly marinades the beans and the sweet and smoky taste compliments the Greek yogurt amazingly.

These were done and on the table in less than 20 minutes. We’re making them again tonight to use up the rest of the chiles and spinach. There are very few meals I can eat three times in a row, but I’m ready for dinner and it’s not even lunch time!

{ 9 comments }

Tortilla Pie

We’re not really in the casserole season yet are we? It was actually cool (well it wasn’t in the upper 90′s) and so we’re finally feeling like warm food again. Nothing heavy, but some warm oven goodness nonetheless. We had all the staple Mexi-fixins in the pantry so a warm, layered tortilla pie was on the menu. These are so easy. Butter some tortillas, layer them in no particular order, and bake. Best part is the helpings are massive, so it easily makes enough for two meals. I love leftovers when the weather is so nice. I’d rather be outside enjoying weather that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to kill me.

Ingredients:

4 large flour tortillas
3 cups grated cheese, I recommend sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack
1 cup rice, prepared according to instructions
1 can beans, cooked (we used black beans)
2 cups spinach, chopped and coated lightly with salt and vinegar or a light Italian dressing
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, your choice, diced or chopped finely
Butter
Chiles, peppers, or pickled jalapenos, sliced
2 tablespoons chili powder
Chopped avocado
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Salsa

Directions:

Tortilla Pie

Tortilla Pie

Tortilla Pie

Tortilla Pie

Tortilla Pie

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a baking dish, which optimally should be the same size as your tortillas. In my case this wasn’t possible, so I just origami-style folded my tortillas to fit.
2. Butter and place one tortilla on the bottom of the pie dish, and sprinkle some cheese over it. Add a layer of each filling ingredient (cheese, rice, tomatoes, spinach, beans, onions and peppers) and continue buttering each tortilla and layering ingredients. You can go as high as you want, we stopped at four layers. Don’t forget to season each layer with a bit of chili powder! Top off your layers with one last flour tortilla. Spread a little butter over the surface of this tortilla.
3. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350°F. Remove the foil and crank the temperature to 400°F. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into quarters.
Serve with chopped avocados, cilantro, salsa, and/or sour cream.

Makes four servings

We love this dish for the same reason we adore non-traditional lasagnas. You can really put anything in it and it will come out great. Have a half-jar of mushrooms in your fridge? Throw it in! Squash? Sure, why not! You really can’t go wrong with this and it’s a great way to use up the bits and pieces of things that sometimes end up leftover from other meals. Seasoned shredded chicken or pork would be awesome if you wanted to make it meaty. The sky is the limit and while it’s nice, hot and hearty, it won’t put you into a coma.


{ 18 comments }

Back in my “bachelor” days, my roommate and I would once in a blue moon make a grand dinner. One of our favorite recipes to make was enchiladas. Filling and delicious and inexpensive to make they were comprised of essentially cheap meats, cheese, enchilada sauce, and tortillas. It was for those reasons that they immediately came to mind yesterday as I was pondering what to make for Neil after his marathon 13 hour day at work. Unlike the enchiladas we used to make, these are very low in fat and cholesterol and the veggies are a great source of vitamins and energy. You also feel just as full after eating two or three as you would eating the heartier meaty ones.

INGREDIENTS

  • 12 flour tortillas
  • 1 cup onions
  • 1 cup potatoes
  • 1 cup canned beans, any kind
  • 1 cup zucchini, diced
  • 1 cup olives, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon oregano (I used more)
  • 1 teaspoon Lawry seasoning
  • 2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
  • 2 cups spaghetti sauce (your choice)
  • Non-Stick spray

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

2. Boil or steam potatoes until almost done, but still firm. Peel the skin off with a knife while the potatoes are still warm. Dice the potatoes into small cubes and place in bowl.

3. Next, saute onions in olive oil until transparent. Add some of the salt, oregano, and Lawry spice to the onions while they are cooking.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked potatoes, the beans, the zucchini, the olives, and the sauteed onions. Season with salt, oregano, and Lawry spice to taste and mix well. You can really use any of your favorite spices to season it to your preference.

5. Next, combine enchilada sauce and spaghetti sauce in a bowl and mix well. I used red enchilada sauce, but you can also use green. I used homemade pasta sauce we canned this summer, but I recommend something cheesy if you’re buying from the store.

6. Grease or use a non-stick spray to lightly coat a large oven-proof baking dish. One at a time spread a spoonful of the sauce on a corn tortilla and fill with 1/4 cup of the vegetable bean mixture. Roll each and place seam side down in baking dish. If you’re feeling froggy you can alternatively dip each tortilla in the sauce before filling and rolling. Fill baking dish with enchiladas and coat in as much leftover sauce as you like.

7. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes uncovered. If you want a softer enchilada, cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes. Garnish with lettuce tomatoes, avocados, or non-dairy sour cream and enjoy!

Note: Base recipe is vegan, however my hubby wouldn’t have eaten it without cheese lol. In the future, I hope to try Veggie Cheese alternative options.

It’s 10:00 a.m. and I’m already craving these. I made a double batch, and I have a huge amount of leftovers (it somehow always happens with enchiladas) so I’ll have several days worth of yummy enchiladas to enjoy without guilt.

{ 7 comments }

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