Tag Archives: salsa

Black bean burrito bowl

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Yes, I’m a fan of alliteration. But mostly, I was just hungry and tired after a long, rainy run tonight. (But inspired – did anyone else see the view of the Lincoln Memorial and Rosslyn from the Monument this evening? Dark, stormy and awesomely terrifying. Wish I had my camera. But I digress.)

Back to my point. Rainy run ramification: ravenous runner. (Alliteration again; altogether annoying. Okay, I’ll stop now.) I threw together this delicious black bean burrito bowl and it took all of five minutes. Win-win.

Black bean burrito bowl

Ingredients:

1/4 cup canned black beans, undrained
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 leaf kale, rinsed and dried (you could also use spinach, but I prefer kale)
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup corn
hot sauce, to taste
a liberal sprinkle of taco seasoning
avocado
salsa
plain nonfat yogurt

1. Heat up the beans in a small pot over medium-low heat.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.

3. Shred the kale into fairly small pieces and add them to the pan with the oil. Stir them often so they don’t burn.

4. As the kale begins to cook down, throw in the rice and the corn.

5. Sprinkle a bit of taco seasoning and a splash of hot sauce over the pan and stir.

6. When the pan mixture and the beans are heated through (it took me about 3-4 minutes), remove from heat and spoon it into a bowl.

7. Top with salsa, yogurt (or sour cream) and sliced avocado.

Serves one.

I know the photo doesn’t have any avocado on it, but that’s because I ate it all last time I made this. (Aka last night.)

Fish tacos

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I just got back from a week in Hawaii, which was preceded by a longer trip for work and to visit family a couple weeks earlier. I went to the store when I got back on Thursday and stocked up my apartment with pretty much every kind of fresh food imaginable, since I haven’t been home cooking a whole lot and haven’t felt free to just buy whatever I wanted because it would go to waste. So Thursday night, I roasted a couple of salmon fillets with garlic and cilantro, then made a cilantro yogurt sauce to top it off.

Today, I took some of the leftover salmon and made a fish taco. Please excuse the awful photo; my camera battery died this afternoon and I couldn’t find my charger, so I used the camera on my laptop. (Of course, my charger turned up right after I finished lunch. Go figure.)

Fish taco ingredients:

1 soft whole wheat taco
1 large spoonful canned corn
1 large spoonful canned black beans
a piece of salmon a little smaller than the palm of your hand, cooked
a few slices of bell pepper (I used frozen, pre-sliced)
3 heaping spoonfuls of salsa
a few slices of avocado
a few cilantro leaves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro yogurt dressing (see recipe below)

1. Heat up the salmon in the microwave if it just came out of the fridge.

2. Spray a cooking pan and warm it over medium heat. Cook the peppers.

3. Add the beans and corn and stir until they are warmed through.

4. Add salsa and stir until some of the liquid evaporates.

5. Meanwhile, toast the tortilla in a toaster oven until it’s a bit crispy.

6. Layer the bean mixture over half the tortilla.

7. Flake the salmon with a fork and layer it over the bean mixture.

8. Drizzle cilantro yogurt over the top, then layer on chopped cilantro and avocado.

9. Fold over the other half of the taco.

Serves one.

Cilantro yogurt sauce ingredients:

1/4 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
a fistful of cilantro leaves
salt and pepper

(This can be made to taste. For example, since I only had nonfat yogurt and it was kind of thin, I added a bit of cottage cheese as well to thicken it up. I bet it would be good with lime, too, had I had one lying around. Use your instincts.)

1. Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.

One thing to note, if I haven’t before. When I buy canned corn for things like this (burritos, taco salad, etc), I buy the plain sweet canned corn, not the creamed or the no-salt-added versions. I tried the no-salt-added once because I noticed that the regular kind has sugar added, too, and I figured I’d be healthy. It’s a million times better when you use the sweet corn, though. I allow myself that small indulgence.

Breakfast burrito

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Listen up, all ye cholesterol-wary: Here’s a quick and tasty substitute for that greasy breakfast burrito that makes you feel sick all morning. Not only is it made with egg whites and no cheese, but it includes avocado, a source of good fat that can lower your bad cholesterol. And guess what — you won’t even miss the cheese!! (As a fellow cheese-a-holic, I promise I’m telling the truth.)

Breakfast burrito

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1 tablespoon black beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon plain canned corn
1 whole-wheat tortilla
3 hearty tablespoons of salsa (I used Tostitos Medium Chunky Salsa)
a couple slices of avocado, chopped into chunks

1. Spray a small pan with non-stick spray and heat it up over medium heat.

2. Add the eggs and scramble them.

3. As the eggs cook, add the beans and corn to heat them up.

4. Once the eggs are cooked, add the salsa. (This warms it up and evaporates some of the liquid, so that it doesn’t make the tortilla mushy.)

5. Warm the tortilla in a toaster oven for a few minutes at around 200 degrees. Keep an eye on it and take it out when it’s just warmed, not crispy — or else you won’t be able to roll up the filling in it. (If you’re unfortunate enough to not have a toaster oven, don’t worry; I feel your pain. Just nuke it for maybe 15-20 seconds and you’ll be all set.)

6. Once the filling mixture is heated through and some of the liquid from the salsa has evaporated, turn off the stove, remove the tortilla from the toaster oven and put the filling in the middle of the tortilla.

7. Put the chopped avocado chunks on top of the filling.

8. Fold in the sides of the tortilla over the filling, then fold the edge closest to you over the top of it and roll it up.

Serves one.

Breakfast burrito

Another variation on the stuffed pepper

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P9020009

Here’s yet another variation on the stuffed pepper, born out of my lack of groceries in the house today. It literally took about 10 minutes to prepare, which was perfect given the degree of hunger I was experiencing on the bus home tonight.

I used some of the leftover chicken I cooked over the weekend, so that definitely contributed to the quick meal factor.

Ingredients:

1 green pepper
1 thick slice white onion, chopped
1/3 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1/4 cup frozen corn
Hot sauce
Chili powder
Red pepper flakes

1. Cut the top off the pepper, then cut it in half. Roast the pepper in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes to soften it.

2. Chop up the top of the pepper (minus the stem) and cook it in a skillet coated with spray for a few minutes, until softened a bit.

3. Add the chicken and corn and stir until warmed through. In the meantime, sprinkle some hot sauce, chili powder and red pepper flakes on top to taste and mix in.

4. Put the filling on top of the pepper once it’s done. Top with salsa and Mexican cheese.

Serves one.