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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

My Burrito Brings all the Boys to the Yard

I love burritos. Correction: I love CHIPOTLE burritos. It's actually pretty embarassing because when I come back from a work trip and am collecting all my meal receipts to file I have a hugely disproportionate number of Chipotle receipts. I would say I spend more money at Chipotle when I travel than I do on rental cars or hotel rooms.

That's a lie.

But still, I love me some Chipotle. The best/worst part about Chipotle is that moment when you hold the burrito in your hands and it almost feels like you're holding a small child. Then you suddenly realize that this small child will soon be inside of you. Then the guilt sets in...

It's never stopped me before though.

Anyways, I don't have a Chipotle in the near vicinity of my house, which is probably a good thing, because I've had to stress drive to the nearest one get creative.

This past week, a craving hit. Hard. I needed a burrito and STAT. So, I was still on my "Clean Food" kick (thanks again, Maris) and found this recipe for Black Bean Salad. It sounded delicious although a tad healthier than my usual Chipotle fare. But I had to make do.

This was SUPERB! Seriously. Beyond the fact that it was by far one of the more colorful meals I've ever eaten, the flavor was amazing. I have a new love for tomatillos...mostly because they come with coats, but also because the flavor is stronger than regular tomatoes.

*Really unclear as to why I had three utensils in this bowl.

Anyways, once the salad was made, I knew I had to take it one step further: burrito-fy it. I sliced up some avocado and put some pineapple chunks all up in there. Amazing.


Now, the next step was a little stressful since I don't know how to fold tortillas and I was desperate to house this feast, so here's my burrito/pillow.


All in all, I urge every single one of you to make this simple and delicious salad. It is the PERFECT summer dish mostly because it involves no heat and keeps for days in the frigde.

Here's the recipe for the Black Bean Salad from "Clean Food" by Terry Walters (with a few adaptations from your's truly).

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked black beans (I used canned, drained, and rinsed)
4 tomatillos, husked and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups corn, frozen or fresh
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (I did not seed cuz I like spice)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside or refrigerate to allow flavors to blend, then serve cold or at room temperature. Store refrigerated in airtight container for up to five days.

3 comments:

  1. I love chipotle too, have ever since I was in high school! after going vegan ,my chipotle burritos were pretty sad since I had to leave out the cheese, sour cream, and meat. It wasn't worth it to pay so much for a black bean and rice burrito that we could make at home -so we started to make it ourselves, like you did, and found we love them even more! At home we can add daiya cheese and vegan sour cream, and we can make them into bowls or burritos. I, too, found the secret ingredients to be cumin & lime juice! Love love love them! Have a great thursday :)

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  2. Hey! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Clean Food cook book!!!!!

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  3. I pass two Chipotles between work and home, and that's only a 2.5 mile trip. I have been known to eat at Chipotle 5 days a week. I also won't deny going to Chipotle for lunch and dinner on the same day. Where else can you get delicious, locally sourced, organic food for under $7? Have you tried the salad dressing yet? Spicy and slightly less than three weeks worth of sodium, but delicious.

    I wanted to let you know how those burrito wrappers at Chipotle make it look so easy. It's that warmer they put the tortilla in before they fill it with the goodness. It steams the tortilla making it nice and pliable. You already have the folds right, just need to get that bad-boy a little more flexible.

    I'm more of a soft taco guy at home, but same concept applies. I heat the tortillas on an iron skillet (or gas flame if you have it) then put them in a container with a lid. I have one of those fancy tortilla buckets like you find at some restaurants (no idea who bought that thing for me). You can achieve the same results by throwing 'em into a plastic bag or a casserole dish with a lid. Fold the big ones if you need to, they bend easy now.

    Keep up the bloggin', I'm stealing everything you post to feed my family.

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