Freezer Burritos
Right now I'm really into large recipes that freeze well. Healthy eating is easier when food is prepared a head of time. I often work late and the last thing I want to do at the end of a long day is cook. Unfortunately, the evening is where I usually do a lot of my binge eating - right before bed.
This recipe has been modified from one posted at Natural Chef NYC.
The great thing about it is that you can put whatever you like in it; it's highly modifiable. I've made this recipe several times over the past couple of weeks and have experimented with couscous, quinoa, and various other ingredients. I can honestly say that after consuming nearly 40 burritos in the span of a month that this recipe is a winner.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red and 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 container of button mushrooms, diced
1/2 block of extra firm tofu, drained and cut into small cubes
1 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup corn
1 cup quinoa or couscous, cooked
1 7.5 oz. can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
Splash of soy sauce or liquid aminos (optional)
Splash of rice wine vinegar (optional)
1 pkg vegan cheese
2 (about 16 total) packages of medium whole wheat tortillas.
Directions:
I prefer to have all my ingredients ready to go before I start cooking. This stream lines the whole process and makes clean-up a lot easier. Prepare the couscous or quinoa according to the box directions. Heat olive oil in a large pan (this recipe will yield close to 20 burritos, so use the biggest pan you have on hand) and add onions. Saute for about a minute and then add garlic, peppers, corn, and mushrooms. Continue to cook for a few more minutes to soften vegetables. Add tofu and black beans and continue to cook. Stir in the dry seasonings and adobo sauce. The peppers are fairly hot and I usually remove them before constructing the burritos. At this point add a splash of rice wine vinegar and liquid aminos according to your preferences. I move quickly through these steps as I tend to let everything simmer at the end for a few minutes to reduce the amount of liquid. This is a perfect time to clean up before moving on to the next step since the kitchen will likely be a disaster.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Warm the tortillas in a pan set to a low temperature. They'll be more flexible and less likely to break when folding. Place about 1/3 cup in the center of your tortilla, add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of quinoa or couscous, and vegan cheese. Don't fill it too full or there won't be enough room to fold the tortilla. When folding the tortilla (imagine it's a square), bring both sides to the center. Hold them in place and fold the bottom up and over to the top. I usually get the best results when I use pressure and roll them tightly. Repeat until all the tortillas are gone or the filling is used up.
Place all the burritos on a lightly oiled cooking sheet. I often need to use 2 to fit everything. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool for an additional 5 minutes. Wrap in aluminum foil or wax paper and freeze.
