Bean N' Rice Burrito | Hearty Mexican Meal

They always say fashion trends revive or circulate  or rather old trends make a comeback into limelight. 

For me its same with food/cuisines. Old favourites make a comeback sometimes. Now that there are several Mexican restaurants in my neighbourhood, I am in Mexican frenzy. Not ordering but cooking.. 

Okay, make that "not just ordering, but cooking as well".

Anyways, now Mexican is a family favourite with this one topping the list. This one recipe or dish is a wholesome one with my favourites - rice, beans, tomatoes and tortillas. 

This one is a nice change from the usual or routine fare of dal, roti, subji or even flavoured rice or whatever you make at night. This require slightly more prep time if you are preparing all the ingredients from scratch as I did, but its totally worth it. 

I had already posted my tortillas, salsa and sourcream. So I will be posting the Kidney bean rice that I adapted from here.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 1 cup atleast
Water : as needed to cook the rice appprox. 2 cups
Vegetable Stock: 1/2 cup atleast but quantity to be adjusted with water (optional)

Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Onion: 1 finely chopped
Green Pepper: 1 medium chopped into bite sized pieces
Garlic: 1 -2 cloves minced/grated

Chilli Powder:1 tsp+/- tsp as per taste
Cumin Powder: 1 tsp +/-
Red chili flakes: 1/8 + tsp


Red Kidney Beans: 1/2 cup pre soaked and cooked

Tortillas: 4 + as needed

Salsa: 1-2cups

Sour cream /Cheese : optional


Preparation:

Cook rice till done adding enough water and stock.

Stock definitely imparts flavour to rice and enhances the final dish.  Fluff it up using fork and keep aside to cool. Cook the beans with salt and then drain off the excess water. You can use this water along with stock while cooking the rice.

Heat olive oil in a deep pan and saute the finely chopped onions and green pepper till the raw smell disappears. Add in the crushed garlic and saute for another minute or so. Make sure its not burnt. 

Then add in the chilli and cumin powders along with red chilli flakes and salt and saute till raw smell disappears. Then stir in rice and beans and cook till heated through and the flavours mix well. Adjust the salt and seasonings.

Your rice is ready to stuffed up as a burrito. You can prepare and keep this rice ready so that dinner time includes just reheating the tortilla and filling it.

Spoon few tablespoons of rice in the tortilla. Top with salsa and optionally shredded cheddar or any Mexcian blend. Fold the sides and ends over the filling and serve with more salsa, sourcream  and more cheese. 

A simple yet full meal. While preparing the rice, I was wondering whether the rice will be good enough for the burrito. I love tomatoes and have heard that Mexican rice always include tomatoes apart from salsa. So this rice was a bit different or 'hatke' for me. But trust me the burrito was awesome. All the ingredients -rice and the salsa contributed to the dish but held their own as well.