Easy Burritos

Easy Burritos

Saucy and savory with just ground beef, beans and cheese, this easy recipe is inspired by Los Angeles-style burritos, which restaurant critic Jonathan Gold once summarized as “the rough equivalent of a hardhat’s lunch pail, a method of constructing a filling, portable meal from a tortilla, last night’s beans and a spoonful of stew if there was one.” This burrito’s filling eschews guacamole, sour cream, rice and raw vegetables which means it freezes well for up to 3 months. The seared ground beef is simply spiced, but feel free to swap in a stewed meat like birria or tinga de pollo or make it vegetarian with just beans and cheese.

Yield: 6 burritos

1 pound ground beef

1 medium yellow or white onion, finely chopped

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

½ teaspoon smoked paprika, or chipotle or ancho chile powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 (15-ounce) can black or pinto beans

1 large tomato, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons lime juice, or apple cider vinegar 

Hot sauce, for drizzling (optional)

6 burrito-size (about 10-inch) flour tortillas

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese

In a large skillet, press the beef into an even layer to fill the skillet. Sprinkle with the onion. Cook over medium-high, undisturbed, until the meat is deeply browned underneath, 6 to 8 minutes.

Sprinkle with the cumin, smoked paprika and oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Break up the beef into small pieces, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and the spices are fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes.

Add the beans, including the liquid, and the tomato and simmer, stirring and scraping up browned bits, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture starts to sizzle, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the tortillas on a clean work surface. Sprinkle half the cheese across the center of the tortillas, left to right, leaving a 1-inch border. Top each with ⅔ cup of the beef-bean mixture, followed by the remaining cheese. Drizzle on hot sauce, if using.

Fold the tortilla’s short sides over the filling, then fold the bottom of the tortilla snugly over the filling. Tightly roll away from you until the burrito is sealed. Repeat with the other tortillas.

When ready to eat, in a nonstick skillet over medium, place the burritos seam side down. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.

Tip: To make ahead, prepare through Step 5. Let cool slightly, then wrap in  aluminum foil. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, remove the foil and wrap the burrito in a damp paper towel. Microwave, seam side down, until warm, 1 to 4 minutes. Remove the towel and continue to Step 6.

Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

A delightful breakfast, these burritos filled with soft scrambled eggs, scallion-flecked refried beans and buttery avocado slices are also great any time of the day. Cilantro adds freshness, and a few drops of your favorite hot sauce will deliver a nice zing. The nontraditional open-ended rolling technique used here will tightly encase the filling in the smaller-size tortillas while ensuring the optimal tortilla-to-stuffing ratio. To seal completely, wrap each tortilla in a strip of foil and twist both ends. For convenience, the little wraps can be made ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator or freezer and reheated in an oven. 

Yield: 4 servings

8 medium (soft taco-size) flour tortillas

5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated (1¼ cups)

2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola

2 scallions, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup refried black beans (from a 16-ounce can) 

6 large eggs, beaten 

Kosher salt

Hot sauce, for drizzling (optional)

1 small ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced

¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves

Heat broiler to high and line two sheet pans with foil.

Place the tortillas on the sheet pans. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the tortillas. Broil, one pan at a time, until the cheese is just beginning to melt, about 20 seconds.

In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add the scallions and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the refried beans, stir to combine and cook until the beans are warmed through, about 2 minutes. Divide the beans among the tortillas, spooning in even lines down the centers.

Wipe out the skillet and set over to medium-low heat. Pour in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, add the whisked eggs and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs are just set, about 3 minutes. Divide the eggs evenly among the tortillas, in lines over the beans. Drizzle on hot sauce, if using.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the eggs and top with avocado and cilantro. To roll, fold one side over the filling to enclose it, then tightly roll away from you, leaving the ends open. Serve immediately, or wrap in foil and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Reheat in a 400-degree oven or toaster oven until warm, about 8 minutes.

TIP: Instead of using refried beans I use plain canned black beans. I put a can of black beans with the can liquid in a pot, add about 2 tsp of chili power and 1 tsp of cumin, bring to a simmer and then mash them with a potato masher or blend with an immersion blender. I cook them until enough liquid has evaporated so that they have the texture of refried beans.

Actually, if you can opt for refried pinto beans instead of black in this recipe, surprisingly, Rosarita makes incredible organic canned refried pintos; they use organic coconut oil as the fat and are very nicely seasoned… although we cook bean from dry like crazy, we keep them around for quick fixes, like midnight bean/cheese quesadillas or whatever. Pretty easy to find and excellent for canned; Costco sells them in an 8-pack :-)

I added raw garden fresh radishes that I cut into matchsticks as an additional topping. The radish added some crunch, some color and a bright favor to the burritos. This is great served with a nice pico de gallo as well.

Last night I made the burritos and today was my first day eating one for breakfast at work. I put the foil-wrapped frozen burrito in the oven as soon as I woke up, then brushed my teeth and combed my hair, and grabbed the burrito out of the oven on my way out the door. Thirty minutes later, I was eating it at my desk, and it was still warm. It tasted better than anything I would have bought from Dunkin or SB for $7.