Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Black Bean Burritos

BLACK BEAN BURRITOS



These are a staple in our house. Between Matt studying every night and the baby being especially fussy in the evenings, we get very excited over simple, yummy meals. In an attempt to eat healthier, we try to cook dinner every night and avoid the (delicious) dreaded fast food or pizza delivery guy, even when we are both tired and/or busy. I always keep the ingredients for these on hand because it is a fast, easy and delicious dinner that only takes about 20 minutes to make (including prep time!) 

I came across this recipe while looking online for vegetarian dinner options. The fact that it doesn't include meat means it is not only less expensive, but involves less prep work and a shorter cooking time that it's meaty counterparts. The other great thing about these delicious burritos is that that are actually rather healthy......if you cut back on the amount of cream cheese you mix in. You can use as little as a dollop or the whole 8 oz. package. They are delicious no matter what. 

Oh, and they're just as good the next day, so don't worry if you have filling left over! :) 
Start of by finely chopping up one large garlic clove, one red bell pepper and one large yellow onion.  Heat up your skillet over medium heat. Add your olive oil and throw in the garlic. Make sure you give the pan a shake to cover all the garlic in olive oil. Let it cook for a minute or two until it starts to turn a nice golden brown. 


Add your pepper, onion and a can of chopped green chiles to the skillet. 



How long you cook your veggies really depends on how you like them. I prefer mine to be very soft (I don't like crunchy onions), so I tend to cook mine until they're transparent and even a little browned. Make sure to give them a little stir to keep them from sticking to your pan and burning!


While your veggies are cooking, drain and rinse your black beans. Make sure you really drain them well because I find that these taste best without any excess liquid (the cream cheese makes them just creamy enough). Add the beans to your veggies and stir em up!


Once the beans and veggies are combined, I like to add a pinch of salt and pepper. The beauty of this burrito filling is that you can really doctor these up in any way you choose. You could even leave out the cream cheese completely if you want a vegan alternative! 


Add your cream cheese in manageable chunks! Add as much or as little as you want. Tonight I chose to add the entire 8 oz. package because I have cheese addiction issues.


This is when the filling goes from colorful and tasty looking to just plain sloppy looking. The filling isn't pretty but it goes inside of a tortilla so it's all good ;)


Warm up your flour tortillas!!! If you don't, you are clearly a burrito making amateur. Shame on you.


Spoon some of the filling into a tortilla and roll it up. Matt likes his with cholula. I like mine with sour cream AND cholula. 



I warned you. They're not pretty, but they're oh so tasty.




Black Bean Burritos

You will need:

1 tsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 large onion (yellow or white)
1 small can of chopped green chiles
2 cans of black beans
One 8 ounce package of cream cheese
Flour tortillas (I like the taco sized ones)



Heat up a large skillet over medium heat. 


Finely chop up garlic, onion and bell pepper. Add olive oil to pan and then add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add onion, pepper and chiles to the skillet and cook to desired consistency. 


Drain and rinse beans and add to skillet. Stir the beans and veggies together. Add cream cheese and stir everything together. 


Warm up a flour tortilla in a clean skillet and fill with the bean mixture. Serve with hot sauce, sour cream or eat em up plain!!


Enjoy :)