Black Bean Burritos

Bean burritos have been on a weekly rotation in our house for a long time – and not much changes about the recipe.  It’s a fast, simple, and delish supper or lunch.  It can be made and on the table in 30 minutes.  You can make it from a can, or you can soak the beans yourself.  Either way, it is so satisfying.  We use the leftovers for nachos, for dip, or for omelettes.  We’ve even frozen the leftovers for future use.

Gluten-Free and Vegan Bean Burritos

1 can of black beans (or make your beans from scratch and it will taste even better)

1/2 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes and some of the juice (or  4-5 fresh tomatoes diced)

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup of chopped carrots

1/2 to a full pepper (we usually use red or yellow, but green would work too)

1 jalapeno pepper without the seeds (if you have one in the fridge)

1 tsp of cumin

1/4 tsp of chili powder

1/2 tsp of mustard seed (if you have it in your spice cupboard)

1/2 tsp of sea salt (use more if you made your beans from scratch)

1 pre-cooked and chopped sweet potato (optional but highly encouraged)

1 handful of cilantro

Cook onion, garlic, and carrots in a small amount of olive oil until softened.  Add cumin, chili powder, mustard seed, and sea salt.  Stir for one minute or so.  Add beans and peppers – I like my peppers to be a little crunchy so I tend to add them late in the dish.  Add tomatoes and cook until the tomato juice has boiled down a little – you don’t want it to be too runny.  When ready to serve mix in the cilantro if you have it.  Cilantro really makes this dish yummy but I still make it if I don’t have any in the fridge.

This recipe serves Pete and I supper and lunch.  It also serves the babes two small meals if they’re up for it!

There are a few ways you can serve this, depending on what you like and what you have in the house.

1.  Over rice.

2.  Wrapped in a tortilla.

3.  Spread on a hard tortilla (tostada style).

Add whatever toppings you enjoy.  We usually go with: homemade guacamole, salsa, green onions (if we have them), and cheese (but you don’t need cheese if you have yummy guac.).

Regardless of how we eat these we always call them Bean Burrits!  So, I didn’t misspell the title after all!  Last time I made these I doubled the recipe and used one can of black beans and one can of pinto beans.  It was really good!

Tips for the babes: Callum likes to have a mini-wrap sometimes.  I cut a wrap in half and make him a miniature sized burrit.  Livvie is even starting to enjoy this meal – most of it anyway (beans, carrots, avocado, and a gluten-free wrap).  I hope you will give bean burrits a shot.

Photo Credit: Declan Zimmerman