Taco Rice Beef Burritos

Taco Rice Beef Burritos

I like to have a couple of flavored rice packets in the pantry for a quick bite to eat now and then. If you watch the shelves at the local grocery, you can get these packets on sale for a $1.00 or less. Just a couple weeks ago I purchased 4 packages of the Knorr brand fiesta sides for 89¢ a packet.

I can eat most of one of these packets for a lunch and have the rest as a side with dinner the next day. The rice by itself isn't something I crave or would pay more the a buck for, but it does qualify in the fast-cheap-lunch category in my kitchen.

Recently I decided to make a packet of Taco Rice for burritos. I had ground beef, chipotle salsa, lettuce, onion and cheese leftover from tacos the night before and needed the rice to make a meal out of the leftover taco supplies.

The Taco Rice really helped fill the burrito out and when combined with the other ingredients made for a better-than-average lunch in the taste department. If I had had the time I would have made my own taco flavored rice, but for lunch on a busy work day — and to get ride of the taco dinner leftovers — this packet provided me with a great meal that filled my belly.

That's really all a man can ask for.

Eat well, cook often ...

TACO RICE BEEF BURRITOS
Makes 2, 25 minutes
2 Burrito sized tortillas
1 5.4 oz pkg Knorr Fiesta Sides Taco Rice
1/2 lb Ground beef cooked through
1/4 Cup shredded cheese
Salsa, shredded lettuce and diced onion

Prepare rice according package directions.

Assemble burritos
In center of tortilla place 1/2 cup of rice, 1/2 of the ground beef, 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese then garnish with lettuce, onion and salsa. Fold in sides, then roll tortilla shut forming burrito, then serve. Repeat.

Spicy Black Beans and Rice

Printable version

When I set out to make this dish I was looking to create a spicy side. The batch was large enough for an alternative use though - burrito filling. So I decided to present it as both.

What I love most about this dish is how the rice absorbs the flavors. I have been cooking rice in chicken broth rather than water for years, it ads a ton a flavor. The rice here has not only chicken broth but chipotle, cayenne and a nice vegetable base as well.

I start the dish off with what I call my a southwestern mirepoix, which consists of onion, poblano pepper and garlic. It's a great flavor base that creates nice depth in the finished dish.

I have to say, I enjoyed this more in a burrito rather than by itself as a side. I like how the sour cream and avocado provided a cool balance to the spicy heat in the rice.

This can easily be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken broth with vegetable broth - making it great for those who choose not to savor the yummy goodness created when heat is applied to parts of animals who are now grazing in the great pastures above.

BEHIND THIS BITE
When I originally made this dish I had to much cayenne pepper. The first batch was blow your mind hot, I needed a little sour cream on top to eat it as a side dish, so I dialed it back to a quarter teaspoon.

I learned a lot about rice creating this recipe. I love how it absorbs the flavors in the liquid it's cooked in. It was really my first attempt at a Spanish rice-type dish. In the future, I’m going to play with different flavors in the liquid for different styles of rice. I think it would be easy to make a Cajun-style or Italian-style rice, it would just be about finding the right combo of vegetables and spices to give it an ethnic flare.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Side for 8 to 10; 45 minutes
1 C Onion, diced
1 Tbs Garlic, minced
1 C Poblano, cleaned, chopped
1 Can Black beans, (14.5 oz) rinsed
3 C Chicken broth
1 Tbs Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1 1/2 C Rice
1/4 C Cilantro, chopped

Sauté Vegetables
In a soup pot over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in a little olive oil until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes add Poblano, season with salt and pepper, cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes more. 

Add broth, beans, seasonings and rice
Add chicken broth, black beans, chipotle chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and rice. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover, remove from heat. Let sit 25 minutes. Do not remove lid. 

Remove cover, fluff, add cilantro
Uncover pot, fluff mixture with a fork and stir in cilantro. Adjust seasonings, then serve.

FOR BURRITOS
Makes 8 burritos
8 Flour tortillas
4 C Rice and beans
2 Avocados, sliced
2 Tomatoes, sliced
2 Tomatoes, sliced
1/2 C Sour cream

On a burrito sized flour tortilla place spicy rice and beans, avocado slices, tomato slices and sour cream. Fold in sides, roll shut, slice in half and serve.

Cheesy Burrito Casserole

Printable version

I used to eat frozen burritos like they were going out of style when I was in college. They can be eaten on the run or smothered in salsa and cheese and gobbled up while watching the news.

I was browsing through the freezer isle at Meijer and came across the frozen burrito section – I was instantly transported back to my college days. I knew I had to buy a package and come up with something simple.

I put the entire package of eight frozen burritos in a baking pan, mixed together a can of cheddar cheese soup and a jar of salsa for a sauce and topped it off with pepper jack cheese. I shredded the cheese myself from an 8 ounce block because it seems to melt better than packaged shredded cheese.

The end result was a surprisingly tasty dinner that takes about thirty minutes to make. 

BEHIND THIS BITE
This is the sixth recipe in my series of weeknight bites. Each time I go to the store, I see something new that inspires another recipe. I’m going to have to stop looking for a few days because I have enough stuff in the freezer now to make 3 or 4 recipes. I must discipline myself to empty my reserves before I go back to the new-found culinary gold mine known as the freezer isle.

Eat well, cook often ...

A Burrito for Breakfast

Printable version

The first time I ate a breakfast burrito was at McDonald's after they were added to the menu in 1991. I thought they were great from the beginning and it is the item I choose most when I start the day with breakfast at the golden arches.

A friend of mine used to eat them everyday. He would order from the drive-thru, get three breakfast burritos and devour each one like a maniac in three bites. I wondered if he was secretly training for a burrito eating competition.

For this recipe, I make my own version of a breakfast burrito. These are much bigger and hardier than the diminutive snacks sold at McDonald's, and will take more than three bites to eat - unless your an NFL linemen. The burrito filling features shredded potato, fresco cheese and other traditional breakfast ingredients. The potato gives it a stick-to-your-ribs quality and the fresco cheese (labelled "queso fresco" at the supermarket) provides a fluffy compliment to the egg, and is similar in texture to feta cheese but very mild in flavor.

BEHIND THIS BITE
The friend that I mention in the intro – who ate McDonald's breakfast burritos in three bites – had another interesting fast food quirk. He never went into fast food restaurants when he was by himself. He would order at the drive-thru, then pull into a parking spot and eat in his truck.

I always thought that was odd.

At the time, he and another guy I hung out with, were what I called "eat in the parking lot alone guys" (with mullets) I used to poke fun at them because of it. (the eating habits, not the hair-do) I hate to eat in my car. Some people do it all the time, but for me, I'd rather slop my Big Mac special sauce all over a table I don't have to clean, rather than the steering wheel of my Honda Civic.

I can understand though. Some people don't want to sit in a public place alone and eat. It's an insecure thing. Kind of like people who can't drive twenty minutes by themselves in a car without calling every person in their contact list – just so they don't appear to be alone or without friends.

People are strange.

I haven't spoke to the three-bite-burrito-eater in years, I moved to New York and he to Utah. Last I heard, he married a woman named Tangerine. I hope he is doing well because he was a good guy, and a great friend at the time - even though he ate in the parking lot like a wanted criminal afraid of being recognized while eating lunch at a fast food joint.

Eat well, cook often ...