Sunday, July 9, 2017

Baked Pinto Bean and Swiss Chard Burritos (ATK)



This is one of our favorite dinners.  foodforscot 2015 and prior contained food for scot.  Meaning, I primarily cooked all the recipes.  Because recipes made by scot never made the blog.  I mean, I could show you how to make a bowl of cereal, but I just didn't.

Boy, has he come a long way.  Mostly because children need to eat food frequently and regularly, so waiting until mom** comes home and eating at 9 pm is no longer a viable option.  But these burritos are in Scot's repertoire.  And even better, Birk loves them.  I LOVE when Birk loves food that has more than 2 ingredients in combination.

These are filled primarily with rice, Swiss chard, and pinto beans.  The Swiss chard is stewed in a tomato sauce, which makes it super tender and sweet.  Out of all the greens, Swiss chard is not too bitter to begin with, but it is as mild as spinach in this preparation (I know, I should rewrite this sentence...it is the worst).  The filling is, most importantly, flavorful with specific and well tested measurements of spices and salt, which is Scot's favorite kind of recipe.


We also love that the burritos are "baked".  Everything inside the burrito is fully cooked and ready to eat, but after assembling, you sprinkle with a little cheese (these have more than I prefer, but I am not picky if someone is cooking dinner for me).  Then, you place under the broiler for only a few minutes to get the tortilla and cheese golden brown.  And you never leave that broiler's side.  In fact, keep the door open and just sit and watch.  The window of when broiling transitions from perfect to burnt is nearly 0.5 seconds.  

Lastly, we like to eat with some guacamole.  My current recipe for guacamole these days is mashed very smooth and seasoned with salt, lime, and garlic powder.  Recently I was preparing some avocado toast and was stuck with a pretty bad, green tasting avocado (although texture was fine).  I added some plain yogurt and it actually sort of fixed it.  Finally, I like to shake on some green Tabasco on every bite.  

Oh actually more.  Birk did not love these the first five-ish times he ate them.  I just wanted to make that clear.  After enough "experience" with this meal, he will even eat these at room temperature in his lunch box.  And they are great reheated too.  I have to stop writing about these burritos because my enthusiasm is starting to make me uncomfortable.  They are burritos.  You get it.  

Baked Pinto Bean and Swiss Chard Burritos
recipe from "The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook", America's Test Kitchen*

2¼ cups vegetable broth, divided
¾ cup brown rice, rinsed
6 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 lb. Swiss chard, stemmed and sliced into 1-inch wide strips
1½ cups cooked pinto beans (1 15 oz. can), rinsed, divided
1 tablespoon lime juice
6-7 10-inch flour tortillas
10 oz. Monterey jack cheese, shredded (about 2½ cups), divided

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 1¼ cups of the broth, the rice, half of the garlic, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the rice is tender and the broth has been absorbed, about 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the cilantro and fluff with a fork to incorporate. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, chipotle, cumin, oregano, remaining garlic, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chard and ½ cup of the broth, cover and simmer until the chard is tender, about 15 minutes.

Using a potato masher or a fork, coarsely mash half of the beans with the remaining ½ cup of broth in a bowl, then stir into the pot. Cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice and remaining whole beans. Cover to keep warm.

Adjust an oven rack to 6 inches underneath the broiler element and heat the broiler. Wrap tortillas in a damp dish towel and microwave until warm and pliable, about 1 minute. Lay warm tortillas on a work surface. Mound warm rice, chard-bean mixture and 1½ cups of the cheese in the center of the tortillas, close to the bottom edge. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, fold the sides of the tortilla over the filling, then fold up the bottom of the tortilla, pulling back on it firmly to tightly wrap around the filling and into a burrito.

Place the burritos seam side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Broil until the cheese is melted and starting to brown, 3-5 minutes. Serve warm with guacamole.

 *I copied the text of this recipe from (http://thehouseofnashrecipes.blogspot.com/2015/04/baked-pinto-bean-and-swiss-chard.html) because I didn't want to type it out myself but I just use the cookbook!  It is definitely the best cookbook I have ever owned.  
**Just curious your thoughts on me referring to myself in the third person, as mom?  It is a little uncomfortable but you like it, right?


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