Anything goes, Fast burrito

We were blessed with such a wonderful holiday full of the people we love!  I certainly hope you all had a similarly loving and wonderful holiday.

As we traveled around the Mid-Atlantic, I confess I enjoyed letting other people be chief cook and instead playing the un-glorified but necessary role of bottle washer.  And when Little Sis and Bro-in-Law are the cooks I am always in for a treat, so I was happy to wash bottles and anything else they dirtied in the process of feeding me.

Now that we’re home I face the same challenges that you do of once again providing healthy meals within the parameters of busy schedule and  budget.  If you are ready to make a change and try to eat more real food (and feel better and lose weight at the same time), check out our Baby Steps series!  We will be adding to the Baby Steps series soon, but in the meantime, you have to eat tonight, right? Here is a simple healthy meal that easily adapts to whatever you have in the house – and also can easily be varied for different tastes.

New Year – new experiments… I thought I’d make first fried bean burritos last night.  I didn’t have re-fried beans, some of them have lousy ingredient lists anyway, but I did have beans… so re-fried beans must get fried twice right?  Why not fry the once, would that be such a problem 😉  Of course I didn’t really fry them…

A few items such as a can or two of beans in the pantry, onions in the pantry, and tortillas in the freezer, along with dairy or non-dairy cheese, any fresh or frozen veggies that you have and salsa if you have it and dinner is served in about 15 minutes.

Start with warmed whole-grain tortillas (I used Ezekiel tortillas which have a very strong flavor and are very chewy – just to warn you if you want to try them , and Ezekiel corn tortillas for my gluten-free hubby).

Then make fillings that your family can mix and match.

BEANY FILLING:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 can beans (I used dark red kidney beans)
several TBsp water as needed.
oil
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
dash of chili powder or to taste
dash of salt
Chop onion and heat oil in a skillet..
Add onion and spices & cook several minutes until translucent
Add drained and rinsed beans

Cook on low and mash with a mashing tool of your choice… school books, perhaps? Just kidding. I like school, I like school, I like school 😉
Add water a bit at a time to give your beany filling a little mush

Please Sir, could I have more beany mush?

This does indeed resemble re-fried beans which is also a fast option, but I found this to be fresher tasting and cheaper, especially if you are using organic beans vs. organic pre-prepared re-friend beans.  Fresh and cheap works for me!

CHEESY FILLING:
Option 1: cheese 😉    Grate some cheese and add it to the burrito assembly line

Option 2: quick sunflower seed / cashew cheese
This is an attempt to combine some cheesy offerings we have shared in the past (sunflower cheese & cashew cheese) but without the extra work and time involved in making firm cashew cheese.
1/2 cup sunflower seeds & 1/2 cup cashews soaked in 2 cups of water in the frig (put these in to soak in the morning and they’ll be done by dinner)
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1-2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1 clove garlic
1/2 – 1 tsp salt
Mix all in food processor until creamy, scraping down sides as needed

VEGGIES:
Whatever you have that your people will eat, inside of, or next to, a burrito.  I had fresh red pepper and romaine.  WHATEVER works.  Any vegetable is better than no vegetable.

Line it up on the counter or server or dinner table and let everyone make their favorite.

Of course you can use any leftover meat you have as well, but your family will probably not even miss it with the hearty bean and cheese combo.  It’s a new year and a new horizon…. who knows what they’ll try… especially if it’s what’s on the table 😉

Mine looked like this before I added salsa and ate it quickly.

Oh how I love to eat food.  Real food.

I have shared this recipe at http://www.modernalternativekitchen.com/