Chipotle Bean Burritos (Vegetarian)

July 19, 2011 By 8 Comments

Chipotle Bean BurritoI love meat. Sometimes I just need a big, juicy steak with a pat of garlic butter on top. But most of the time, I don’t enjoy cooking meat (it’s really the raw part I don’t much care for)… so we don’t eat a whole lot of it (my poor husband!).

Growing up, some sort of meat was served for dinner every night. It was the focal point of the dinner plate. So, I grew up thinking that a meal wasn’t a real meal without meat. Even today, at this very moment as I share this recipe with you, I almost feel guilty about not including meat (ground turkey would be pretty tasty in this…).

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of this dish, which was inspired by an old Cooking Light magazine article. I made a few tweaks to the recipe and really didn’t miss the meat at all (for shame!).

So, next weekend when you’re wondering what on earth you’re going to fix for Meatless Monday, try this recipe out – it takes 15 minutes to make, it’s vegetarian and practically guilt-free.

 

Chipotle Bean Burritos (Vegetarian)

*Inspired by Cooking Light

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ground red chipotle

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup water

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained

1 (15 oz.) can dark red kidney beans, drained

1 (4 oz.) can green chilies

¼ cup chipotle salsa

Juice of 1 lime

4 reduced-fat flour tortillas

Toppings:

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

3 green onions, thinly sliced

3 leaves romaine lettuce, chopped

1 avocado, sliced

Cilantro

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pan to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the ground red chipotle and salt. Then add the water, beans and green chilies. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

While bean mixture is simmering, prepare tomatoes, lettuce, green onions and avocado.

When bean mixture is done, use a wooden spoon to mash the beans just a bit. Then stir in the salsa and lime juice.

Assemble the burritos with your desired toppings, give one more squeeze of lime and a touch of cilantro to the filling before rolling it up, and enjoy!

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Cilantro Pesto Shrimp and Spaghetti

July 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

Cilantro Pesto Shrimp and SpaghettiAh, medical the power of a tweet! In a matter of seconds, viagra buy you can find a wealth of information on any subject just by sending a tweet or searching Twitter’s recent activity. It’s amazing how instant gratification just got a little more… instantaneous.

Case in point: Most of my meals consist of potatoes, breads, rice, pasta… you get the idea. I can’t help it. I love starch. So, when I decided to try this new low-carb diet, I was at a loss. My culinary creativity was stunted (must have been the lack of sugar in my system) and all I could think about was how much I wanted a greasy pizza and chocolate cake.

So, I tweeted (panicked) about needing low-carb dinner suggestions – and quick, before I gave into my cravings and my diet became another one for the books. Instantly, I got terrific suggestions from my fellow tweeters, and one in particular caught my attention: Dreamfields’ low-carb pasta. Uhm, hello? Low-carb pasta? I think the best of both worlds just emerged in my very own Twitter feed.

Honestly, I was a little skeptical about how this low-carb pasta was going to taste. Would it be gummy and have a strange texture? Would it have off-putting flavors to compensate for the lack of carbohydrates? Not. At. All. I LOVED everything about this no-guilt pasta!

To top it all off, this meal comes together in 15 minutes – seriously. It’s a perfect, delicious, feels-like-I’m-having-a-gourmet-meal, quick fix (save) for those not-so-friendly, ruin-your-diet cravings. (Whew!)

*A big thank you to my dear friend @MLBee and Dreamfields for sending me the delicious pasta. I don’t normally endorse specific products because everyone’s tastes are different, but this is truly an exceptional product. Try it out!

 

Cilantro Pesto Shrimp and Spaghetti

1 package Dreamfields spaghetti

½ bag frozen shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined

1 recipe cilantro pesto (below)

½ lemon

Cilantro and lemon slices for garnish

Thaw the frozen shrimp and set aside. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package, then drain when cooked. While the pasta is still piping hot, add the shrimp and toss. (This will warm the shrimp.) Add the cilantro pesto (as much as you’d like – I use the entire bowl.) and toss to coat the pasta and shrimp evenly. Squeeze the lemon over the pasta and garnish with cilantro and a fresh lemon slice.

Cilantro Pesto Shrimp and Spaghetti

Cilantro Pesto

1 cup cilantro, packed

1 large garlic clove

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup walnuts

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and pulse until combined. Then, with the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream until the mixture is well-blended and at a smooth consistency. Adjust the ingredient amounts to suit your tastes. (That’s the great thing about pesto – you don’t really need to measure anything; just taste it along the way and adjust as needed.)

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