Monday, August 2, 2010

Chili-Lime Veggie Burritos

I continue to be very proud of myself for using my outdoor grill. I hadn't used it for a couple of years because it's always just seemed like too much work, especially if I'm just cooking for myself. But, I've realized it's actually FUN to grill, keeps my house as cool as possible, and the food tastes amazing!

A few weeks ago, Catherine the Food Snob saved a crappy day by making tacos for dinner. She wondered if there exists any person who doesn't like tacos....I thought and thought and decided she was right - everyone likes tacos! Then of course all that thinking made me crave tacos, which was convenient since I saw Crystal's awesome recipe for chili-lime grilled veggie tacos.


I dumped some chili powder, cumin, and salt into a big ziploc bag with sliced veggies, the juice of 2 limes (I love limey stuff so I used a lot of juice) and a glug of olive oil. After my usual hour-long nightly walk, the veggies were begging to be grilled up!


I had a freshly cooked batch of black beans that wanted to go with my veggies so I spiced them up with some chipotle peppers, red onion, fresh sweet corn, and sliced grape tomatoes. I left the cooking liquid in so the beans would stay all saucy.


All the sliced veggies and spicy bean mixture were layered on a giant flour burrito shell, which was also charred up on the grill. Then topped with some sliced fresh avocado. Notice something? No cheese. You don't need it with the creamy beans, charred chili-lime veggies, and buttery avocado. These giant burritos are mega good for you!


Chili-Lime Veggie Burritos, adapted from Crystal Grobe
Veggies such as red onion, portobello mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow squash (colored bell peppers would also be great here), sliced into grillable planks
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients in zip top bag, marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour. Heat grill to medium-high. Grill veggies for a few minutes on each side until nicely charred but not burnt. Remove from grill and slice all veggies. Char a flour (or corn) tortilla on your grill and top with your sliced veggies. Add Spicy Corn and Beans in lieu of salsa and top with a sliced avocado. Roll up and eat!

Spicy Corn and Beans
1/2 red onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 chipotle peppers, plus sauce, chopped (I used 2 and it was very spicy!)
1 can or pint black beans, with liquid
2 cobs fresh sweet corn, kernels removed from cob
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Saute red onion in olive oil, salt, and pepper in skillet over medium high heat until soft. Add chipotle peppers and beans with liquid. Bring to a simmer and let most of the liquid cook off. Add corn and tomatoes and remove from heat.

ONE YEAR AGO: Gazpacho

3 comments:

  1. I'm still searching . . . haven't found a taco-hater yet!

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  2. I gota say there are a few to many no cheeze comments for me. I love cheese and do my best to enjoy some everyday! that of course along w/ my myraid of dark chocolates and wines. Healthy to me doesn't mean fat-free, cheese-less, or dessert-less - I mean come on cheese is Fing Awesome!! and don't even get me started on flourless choclate cake!

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  3. Cass I totally agree, I love cheese too! But in mexican food I used to rely way too much on cheese as the main ingredient in the dish so it's nice to be able to taste and enjoy the other flavors now :)

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