You Want Me to Cook?: Corn, Black Bean and Pepper Jack Burritos

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook - March 1, 2011

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Recipe originally published in All You, February 2011.

My husband LOVES Chipotle. Seriously, it’s one of the only foods that he’ll drive for 30 minutes, one way, in rush hour traffic to get. In fact, if he had to use ChipotlAway, he’d probably still eat it. By the way, if you don’t like South Park or gross humor, just skip this video.

Also, I’m looking for more vegetarian meals to make. Don’t get me wrong, I love meat, but I’m not a blind omnivore that thinks there’s nothing wrong with eating my weight in steak every year. Vegetables are good for you, and frankly, I need more of them in my diet. If I can make a filling meal out of veggies, I’m there.

Flipping through my All You, I stumble upon a recipe for Corn, Black Bean & Pepper Jack Burritos. Could it be? I read through the ingredient list. Yes, it is. This is going to be as close to Chipotle as I’ve ever gotten.

My finished meal:

It looks very close to the recipe… and Chipotle. Well my husband's version of Chipotle - I like rice in my burrito. My burrito does look thicker and appears to have more cheese than that of the published recipe. I’m okay with that.

Picture published with recipe:

Okay, I’m going to say it: I think my burrito looks better. It could be that their choice of plating makes it look like a pile of brown stuff, but the inside of their burrito looks almost fake. I know there are a lot of tricks to make food look better when being photographed (obviously with the quality of my pictures, I’m not using them), but I hate it when food looks uneatable.

I do want some of that guacamole in the background though.

Assessment:

for more details about what my ratings mean, go to Gretchen’s Rating System

Mess: EH – So, cutting tomatoes can be kinda messy. That and for some reason I hate having to rinse beans. They taste so good, but look like snot in the can. The assembly part of the burrito wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but still not mess-free.

Start-to-Finish Time: AROUND 30 MINUTES – Quick, filling and healthy. That’s just the way I like it!

Prep Work: SLIGHT BLOOD LOSS – So having to halve the cherry tomatoes was tedious, but the rest is very basic prep work.

Ease of Recipe: THE BASICS – There aren’t any exotic ingredients in this… although if you’re addicted to steak/beef burritos, it may be a stretch (a good stretch though – go for it!). If you have a fairly large grocery store, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the Whole Wheat tortillas. No fancy techniques. In fact, this is the first time that I made a burrito that had the perfect amount of filling and folded nicely.

Overall: SORRY HONEY, NO LEFTOVERS – Yeah, I ate most of the burritos that this made. I don’t feel bad about hiding the filling from my husband either.

Recipe Information:

I am not a doctor or dietician. I make my nutritional assessments with the aid of Nutrition Data. I run the original recipe and my altered recipe through their calorie counter and then compute the differences I find. My numbers are to be used as a guideline. Anyone who is under dietary medical supervision should follow the advice of their medical professional if their opinion differs from mine. PLEASE!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Nutritional Information (1 burrito)

Calories 426
Total Fat 19g (Saturated Fat 7g)
Cholesterol 30mg
Sodium 1529mg
Total Carbohydrate 54g
Fiber 11g
Protein 22g

It isn’t like my recipe time was double, but I’m still trying to figure out how the total cooking time is 10 minutes when it takes 10 minutes to get the tortillas finished. The burritos don’t magically make themselves. However, this is one of the first recipes that accounted for (correctly I may add) the prep time. Here’s how my timing worked out:

Prep Time: 11 minutes
Cooking & Assembly Time: 20 minutes
Total Time 31 minutes

Usually, the nutritional information is incorrect but leaning towards a healthier dish. When I ran this recipe “as is” through Nutrition Data, I was shocked that it swung the other way. Even with my few changes, I still got mostly the same information.

Nutritional Information (1 burrito)

Calories 370
Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 3g)
Cholesterol 9mg
Sodium 954mg
Total Carbohydrate 51g
Fiber 11g
Sugar 4g
Protein 22g

Overall, these burritos were filling and nutritious. It is easy on the cholesterol and is still a good source of fiber and protein. Unfortunately, it’s a little high on the sodium side, but you can find Low Sodium beans out there (I finally found some) and if you rinse them really well you’ll be much better off.

Ingredients:

Changes denoted by red text

4 whole-wheat tortillas (10-inch)

2 teaspoons Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 can (14 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tablespoon lime juice

Salt

6 ounces low-fat pepper Jack, shredded

Ingredient Notes:

Whole Wheat Tortillas – at first, I had problems finding these, but in the larger grocery stores, they are a little bit easier to find. If you can’t find them, use regular tortillas. Yes, corn tortillas are much healthier, but they don’t fold as well.

Olive Oil – the original recipe called for vegetable oil, but olive oil is slightly healthier and I prefer the taste.

Black Beans – Look for the Low-Sodium beans which I haven’t been able to find until recently. Regardless, you still need to rinse them well. Although some is absorbed into the beans, the bulk of the sodium in canned beans (even low-sodium beans) is in the liquid in the can. Don’t try to rinse them in the can. Dump them into a colander and run them under water while swishing them around. Keep going until they don’t feel slimy anymore (or less slimy depending on your definition of slimy).

Lime Juice – a small lime or half of a medium/large lime will give you about a tablespoon.

Equipment Needed:

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Colander

Juicer

Aluminum Foil

Dutch oven

Large spoon

Equipment Notes:

Dutch Oven – the recipe calls for a medium skillet, but my large skillet wouldn’t accommodate the beans, let alone all the other stuff.

Directions:

(1) Preheat oven to 300ºF. Wrap tortillas in foil and heat until warm and soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and keep wrapped until ready to use.

(2) While tortillas are heating, warm olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.

Remember, olive oil can get really hot, really fast. Keep it at medium heat and try not to let it start to smoke.

(3) Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

(4) Stir in black beans, corn and cherry tomatoes and cook until completely heated through, about 5 minutes.

(5) Stir in lime juice and season with salt to taste.

(6) Place a tortilla on counter. Spoon 1/4 of filling along center of tortilla.

Measuring for this step (and next step) is really important. Using too much will keep your tortilla from staying closed and too little will make it flat and smushed.

(7) Sprinkle with 1/4 of cheese.

(8) Fold sides in over filling, then roll up tortilla to enclose. Repeat with remaining tortillas, filling and cheese.

(9) Cut burritos in half on diagonal. Serve immediately.

If you make meals like I do – to be eaten at a later time – don’t heat up the tortillas or assemble until you’re ready to use. Heating up the tortillas is really easy and fast. These were absolutely delicious and they are on my “go to” list.

Would I change anything? Probably not, but I may add some rice and onions just to see if it makes it any better.

You Want Me to Cook?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Corn, Black Bean and Pepper Jack Burritos

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