Lazy Burrito Filling
All the blah blah blah that comes before the recipe on most cooking blogs drives me nuts, so let’s put that at the end and cut to the chase, shall we? All you need is 5 ingredients (well, 6 if you count water) and 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
2 cans of cilantro lime diced tomatoes
¾ cup of instant rice
¼ cup of water
1 can of black beans
1 can of kidney beans
16 oz shredded Mexican blend cheese
Strain the tomatoes, and combine with rice and water in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil. (This should take about 5 minutes or less.)
2. Remove from heat and let the pot sit covered for 5 minutes. While the rice and tomatoes are resting, drain both cans of beans, then combine.
3. Return the pot to low heat and stir in the cheese until melted. This should also take about 5 minutes.
4. Serve the spectacularly dense, gooey mess in a tortilla or as a lettuce wrap to create the illusion that you’re eating something healthy. This makes about 16 burritos. It also freezes well.
Don’t be overly impressed by the fancy serving dish, guys. I swear I’m a woman of the people. This particular batch was headed to a friend who just had a baby and the first rule of taking food to a woman who just had a baby is to bring it in something disposable so she doesn’t have to worry about washing or returning it.
Alright, now for the long-winded part. I rarely make this anymore because this version, while insanely easy and fast, is mostly processed carbs and fat. However, I generally feel overwhelmed by cooking and I needed something I could wrap my head around to make for a family of 7. I asked her what her family liked to eat and she said, “Oh, we’ll eat anything,” so I took that as a green light.
Let’s talk about how to make this a bit healthier, even though that comes with the trade off of taking a while longer and being more complex. Start by preparing 1/2 cup of brown whole grain rice (1/2 cup of dry grains to 1 cup of water should yield 1 cup of rice). While that’s cooking, brown some 93% lean ground beef and strain the fat. Combine with rice, strained tomatoes and beans, and reduced fat cheese. Maybe even *gulp* reduce the cheese by half. If you want to go a step farther, you can cook up some black and kidney beans from scratch, but, I’m going to be honest, I have never done that and can’t even be bothered to look up instructions. Heck, you could dice your own tomatoes and chiles, squeeze a lime, and chop some fresh cilantro if you feel so incline. However, that’s veering way to far into non-lazy territory for me to be interested.