Quick Fixin: Slow Cooker Burritos

You should know by now how much burritos are a staple in my house. Often, they are our way to eat leftover bits of veggies, beans and meat that we have from our other meals throughout the week. But sometimes, we make burritos to make burritos. Because they are a tasty way to get protein and veggies in one conveniently wrapped package.

This is a quick and inexpensive way to cook burrito meat. And it turns out so juicy and flavorful, you don't need to add lots of extras, although, you could if you like.

Ingredients:
1 London Broil, approx 2 lbs.
Taco Seasoning mix, ours is from Penzeys Spices and is a combination of paprika, salt, onions, corn flour, tomato powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, tellicherry black pepper, cocoa powder and allspice
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 4.5oz can chopped green chiles

Burrito shells
Burrito toppings, such as avocado, cilantro, cheese, plum tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc.

Coat the meat with the taco seasoning. Place the london broil, onion, vinegar and chiles into a slow cooker. Turn on low for approximately 10 hours (9 would work, but I wouldn't go any shorter). Once cooked, remove from slow cooker and shred. Return to the slow cooker to soak up the juices before assembling burritos.

Heat burrito shells in a dry skillet until they are warm and pliable. Fill with the meat and other toppings. Fold and serve.

This recipe also freezes very well, so if you, like us, are an itty bitty family, freeze the leftovers in serving size portions so that you aren't stuck eating burritos for a week (although I don't think I would complain if that happened...). 

Green Enchiladas

This may not be the most beautiful dish ever created, but it might be the most yummy. We devoured these in about 2 days, quite a feat for two people. I expected to have leftovers to freeze, but when I got a bit hungry, I couldn't resist the urge to warm up one (or two) and so they were gone before I knew it. 

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast, cooked (in boiling water) and shredded

1 jalepeno (we used 1/2 a poblano in this recipe since that's what we had on hand)

4-6oz cream cheese

1 cup chicken broth or stock

1 c. cream

1 can diced green chiles

1 can tomatillos, or about 5 fresh

2 tbsp cilantro

1 egg

pinch of salt

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 c. cheese

Combine the chicken with the cream cheese in a bowl and set aside. Blend the jalapenos (or poblano), chicken stock, cream, chiles, tomatillos, cilantro, egg, garlic and salt in a blender. Pour into a low, flat dish, such as a 9" x 9" baking dish or plate.

Dip the corn tortillas in the sauce mixture and then place on a heated but dry skillet. Flip so that both sides are heated and pliable, but don't heat so long that is starts to fall apart. It should not be too long at all, 15 seconds each side should do it depending on your heat.

Place some of the chicken mixture in a line in the center of each tortilla. Roll and place in a baking dish.

Cover the filled and rolled enchiladas with the remaining sauce and place in a 350 F oven for about 30 minutes.

Once they are heated through, remove from the oven and top with shredded cheese.

Serve!

Standing Rib Roast Burritos

My love affair with items wrapped in tortillas goes way back. During the Girl Scouts when I was about 10, I brought quesadillas to the "Bring your Favorite Food" meeting. Needless to say, my mother's homemade dessert quesadillas, made with Monterrey Jack cheese and brown sugar wrapped inside of fried, then baked corn tortillas, was not a hit by the chicken nugget and brownie crowd.

 So, it's no surprise that I love burritos. We eat them a lot to use up the little bits of veggies we collect with other meals or meat we have left over from some other meal. Tonight's burrito was a mix of veggies that we needed to use up, an avocado getting too ripe, a half used orange pepper from this recipe, some left over cilantro, an onion, and watercress from this dinner. Add a tomato and some cheese (Drunken Goat's Cheese - which adds a creaminess with the perfect amount of tang). Pull some black beans from the freezer and heat up the remainder of a rib roast from the weekend, sliced very thin and you've got the makings of a great dinner.

I wrapped up two more for our lunches tomorrow (without the leafy stuff and avocados - packed separately). I am so excited to eat the rest up tomorrow. Yum!

Do you like Pina Colada's?

I crave something wrapped in a tortilla at least once a week. Seriously. I blame genetics. Anyway, tonight we had chicken burritos served with pina colada's.

The burritos included:

2 Grilled Chicken Breasts with a Chili Lime rub
Black Beans (which are so tasty, I'll have to remember to post the recipe the next time we make them)
Brown Rice
Cheese (we used Rustico Black Pepper and Drunken Goat)
Tomatoes, diced
1/2 Avocado, diced
1/4 White Onion, sliced and sauted
1/4 Green Pepper, sliced and sauted
3 White Mushrooms, sliced and sauted
1/2 Lime, juiced
Sour Cream (we use Tofutti, a soy product, in place of the dairy version)
1 bunch Cilantro
2 Flour Tortillas

Just add all the ingredients into a heated tortilla to taste. The key to getting a moster like this all rolled up is to have a heated tortilla, cold ones will break and split and cause most of your toppings to end up on your plate instead of in your stomach. 

We use this basic recipe for lots of leftover meat, like steak, chicken, etc. I could see it working just as well though, with lots of veggies and beans if you wanted to make this without meat.