Vegan Burrito

When I saw a post on Epicurious Vegan about making, and posting, about a vegan burrito to win a ticket to the Vida Vegan Bloggers Conference in Portland, OR,  I thought that I’d give it a go. I was busy doing other recipe development and generally have the ingredients for a burrito hanging around, although I don’t always have the tortillas. I usually use sprouted corn tortillas stashed in my freezer to make tiny tacos but they are much too small and far too rigid for burrito making so I went out and bought some whole wheat tortillas so I could stick to the theme.

I have been known to make burritos from all manner of ingredients but I generally use some standard components such as rice, or another grain, and beans. This burrito was made with mixed red beans, brown rice cooked with onion and garlic and white and sweet potatoes with red bell pepper, hot sauce, avocado and cilantro. Some fresh corn might have made this the best burrito ever but I have not yet had fresh corn this year so…

I often use my freezer as part of my pantry so I have burrito filling ingredients available for when I need a burrito (or taco) fix.

I had cooked some mixed red beans the day prior. I add a drizzle of last year’s homemade hot sauce, sliced of avocado and cilantro. I love cilantro so it’s a must in a burrito for me.

Here, I’ve added the cooked brown rice, and then the cooked sweet and white potatoes with the red pepper. Next comes the folding. If you are not too hungry or your ingredients were cold, you can put the whole burrito in a dry pan to toast. (I skipped that step as I was quite hungry.)

This was what i ate and even if I have to say so myself, it was quite tasty. I loved the bite of the beans, the creaminess of the avocado, the heat of the hot sauce and the sweetness of the rice, sweet potatoes and red pepper. The Yukon Gold potatoes also add texture and to me almost everything tastes better with potatoes.

This burrito is a one-of-a-kind as next week, I might have black beans and red rice already cooked. There might be some greens, broccoli or summer squash begging for a home. When the tomatoes ripen, I might make some salsa and put that inside. Some days I chop up onion or green onion and add that.

And when I’m feeling really decadent, I put in a sprinkle of Daiya cheese and heat the burrito for some melty goodness. In any case, they’re all quite tasty to me. And if you’re a cilantro lover, don’t forget to add lots of cilantro.

What’s your favorite burrito to make? Here’s the recipe for my contest entry.

Mixed Red Beans

Makes about 2 ½ cups

This mixture could have just as easily been one type of bean but I had small amounts of various beans around so I mixed them together. I think that they were all heirloom beans such as Mrs. Kinney’s (truly a pink bean), Montezuma’s Red, pinquitos (also pinkish) and one other, the name of which I am unsure. I soaked them overnight, drained them and then cooked them as follows.

1 cup dry beans, soaked overnight

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 to 2 teaspoons pimenton (smoked Spanish paprika) or ¼ teaspoon or more chipotle chile powder

1 3 to 4-inch piece of kombu seaweed

2 cloves minced garlic

1 bay leaf

Drain beans and toast the cumin seeds in the “bean pot” for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients, dry beans and water to cover. Simmer on the stovetop until the beans are cooked through which will take about an hour. Add more, water when necessary.

Or alternatively, if you use a pressure cooker, as I do, toast the cumin seeds in the pressure cooker for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and about 2/3 cup water. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to high pressure for 6 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you, and check to see if the beans are cooked. If not, put them back on the heat for another 2 minutes at high pressure. And let the pressure come down naturally.

When the beans are cooked, remove the kombu and bay leaf.

Brown Rice with Sweet Onions and Garlic

Makes 2 cups

You can use plain brown rice if that’s what you have.

½ cup chopped sweet onion such as Vidalia or Maui, or whatever you have

2 cloves minced garlic

1 cup brown rice

2 cups water (or 1 ½ cups for the pressure cooker)

Heat a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a minute or two. Add the garlic and stir for another minute. Add the rice and the liquid. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer over medium low heat. Cook for 40 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat for 5 minutes. Fluff, adding salt and pepper, if desired.

Or to pressure cook: Follow the instructions above, using only 1 ½ cups water. Lock the lid on the cooker and bring to high pressure. Cook for 22 minutes and let the pressure come down naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Add salt and pepper, if desired.

Sweet and Yukon Gold Potatoes with Red Pepper

You can either steam or sauté this part, depending upon what you like.

1 cup diced peeled, sweet potatoes

1 cup diced unpeeled Yukon Gold potatoes

½ cup diced red pepper

Steam vegetables for about 15 minutes until a knife passes easily through the potatoes.

Or add 1 tablespoon oil to a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until they start getting crispy. Add the red pepper, and add a bit of liquid (water or broth). Continue cooking until the potatoes are cooked through. Set aside.

For the burrito assembly:

1 avocado, use ¼ sliced for each burrito

2 to 3 tablespoons cilantro

Hot sauce, to taste

1 whole wheat, or white flour, tortilla per serving

¼ to ½ cup cooked beans

¼ to ½ cup cooked rice

½ cup cooked potatoes and pepper

Put the beans down on the tortilla. Lay the cilantro on one side and the sliced avocado on the other. Add hot sauce to taste.

Put the rice on top of the bean mixture and the vegetables on top of that.

Tuck the ends of the tortilla in and roll up.   Enjoy.