Vegetarian Burritos

Mexican food is loved by many people across the world and my little picky eater at home, also happens to love it.

The burritos featured here have many of his favourite ingredients- lettuce, cheese, sour cream, all wrapped up in his favourite roti (tortilla). And I get to feed him protein loaded beans, so its a win-win for both of us!

And my guess is that most kids would like burritos, making them perfect for lunch and snack boxes. And if you have all the ingredients prepped up before, it is a breeze to assemble together, making burritos great for get togethers and picnics too.

The best part about burritos is that you can keep it simple with just a few ingredients- beans, sauce, lettuce and cheese or go the extra mile and top it up with sour cream, jalapenos, etc. Eitherways, they would taste delicious. I added some micro greens and edible flowers that I chanced upon in my online grocery store.

As a vegetarian, I find different kinds of beans very comforting. They are nourishing, satisfying and taste great!

There are people who find beans heavy to digest. According to Indian and Ayurvedic cooking traditions beans are always cooked with healing spices which makes it easier to digest, besides adding tons of flavor.

If not any other spice, try adding a pinch of asafetida when you cook beans. When used judiciously, asafetida adds tons of flavor and imparts great medicinal value to the dish. The trick is to use it discreetly and if done so, one can hardly detect it in the end results. Ofcourse, for many traditional indian dishes, I go the whole hog and use asafetida generously.

A special mention to the lovely organic wheat flour from 24 mantra organic that made these burritos taste so good!

I hope you will like my sattvic vegetarian adaptation to the famous Mexican Burrito, laden with meat. And I also hope your family will love eating these as much as the ones in my family did!

This recipe has been created in collaboration with 24 Mantra Organic. I have been using wonderful organic products from this company, through the Organic Mantras Initiative. And if you have been following this initiative, you will realize that living an organic life isn’t difficult at all. You can stay connected with this initiative on Facebook and Instagram.

Vegetarian Burritos Recipe

The beans:

Ingredients:

1 cup dry kidney beans or any other beans

3 cups water

2 tbsp oil or butter

½ tsp asafetida powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp cumin seed powder

1 ¼ tsp salt or to taste

Method: Soak the kidney beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain and pressure cook with 3 cups of water. After the beans are cooked, drain and reserve the water.

Making the refried beans:

In a pan, put in the oil or butter and then add in the spices. Immediately, add the beans, sauté well and add a cup of the reserved cooking water.

Cook until all the water is evaporated. You can mash the beans a little. I like to leave the beans as they are but cooked until soft and mushy.

The tomato sauce:

1 tbsp oil

1 cup tomato puree

½ tsp red chili powder

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

green chilies or jalapenos, chopped

Method:

In a pan heat the oil and add in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Other ingredients:

Whole wheat tortillas or Indian style rotis

Lettuce

Sour cream

Jalapenos

Cheddar cheese, grated

Micro greens (optional)

Edible flowers (optional)

To assemble:

On a large plate place the tortilla or roti. Over the roti, place a lettuce leaf. Spread some beans over it. Add the grated cheese over the beans and over the cheese spoon the tomato sauce. Top with sour cream, jalapenos and secure both the ends of the tortilla or roti with a tooth pick.

Serve with extra sauce and sour cream and the optional microgreens and edible flowers.