Friday, October 29, 2010

Moe's at Home

I love a quick-to-prepare meal, especially when it's a pretty healthy one! This dinner is a home made alternative to one of our regulars, Moe's. Lainey is a huge fan of burritos, and I love that I can throw in a few extras at home to boost the nutrition of her dinner.

I must give credit where it's due for this one: my dear friend, Keely, inspired me to fix this meal, which not only led to an incredible dinner, but lunches for the entire week. Beautiful. :)

A rice cooker is a big help for this meal--any appliance that allows me to push a button and walk away is a must for me. I cooked the rice late-afternoon, and just kept it on the "warm" setting until dinner time. You don't need to go fancy on this; I have a verrrry basic Salton Rice Cooker that I bought in college for $18 and is still going strong.

Here's the rough recipe.

2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
1 can black beans
salsa
sour cream
avocado
grated cheddar cheese

1. Put rice and water in rice cooker with a splash of olive oil, and cook.
2. Drain and rinse one can of black beans. (any type of bean can be used)
3.. When rice is cooked, stir in about 1/2 c salsa; it should be just enough to give the rice some color and flavor.
4. Stir in black beans. I very roughly mashed about 1/3 of the can before stirring in, just to help it all come together a little more; totally optional.

Now, assemble as desired. I made Lainey a burrito--spread the rice mixture down the center of a whole wheat tortilla (I found the Archer Farms brand at Target actually has almost no gross ingredients and they're still soft and delish). Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, a few big dollops of mashed avocado (full of good fats!), a drop or two of sour cream, and any other desired fillings (lettuce, tomato, extra salsa...). I sprinkled in a handful of crumbled kale chips--you can get pretty creative. Roll the end up, fold the sides in, and roll the rest. To contain the mess, I usually then wrap the whole thing in a piece of foil that can be pulled down as the burrito gets eaten.
For my dinner, I made a rice bowl. Rice and beans topped with salsa, cheese, and sour cream. If I had lettuce on hand, I would have made the whole thing a taco salad. This is what I love about Mexican themed dinners--the same handful of ingredients can make an endless possibility of meals.

3 comments:

  1. Lainey gets her love of burritos from her father! :)

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  2. that looks great! we eat tacos on a regular basis, but are trying to cut out the meats around here! i'll be snagging all your recipes. :)

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  3. molly, as in cut-out-the-meats-entirely?!

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