Recipe thuRsday: Double Bean Burritos

Since I've started tracking my caloric intake, I've been perusing lower fat and healthier recipes in an attempt to try and aid my weight loss.  It seems to be working because after tracking my food for almost two weeks, I've lost 3 pounds!  Yay me!  My favorite place to search is Cooking Light magazine, of which I received a subscription for Christmas from my husband's aunt and uncle.  While I'm waiting for my first issue to arrive, I've been searching their website and found lots of great stuff there.  One of the things I've tried that was a huge success was Double Bean Burritos.  These feature black beans and bean dip hence the double beans, and they are very customizable.  This dish is also vegetarian, so it can be a nice budget meal as well.

Double Bean Burritos
1 can (14 oz) of black beans
1 small can of bean dip
1 can of Rotel
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
1/2 cup light or fat free sour cream (or fat free Greek yogurt)
1 avocado, sliced thinly
2 cups brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup salsa
6 burrito size tortillas

1.  Rinse and drain the beans and cook them in a small saucepan with the can of Rotel until heated through.
2.  Warm up the tortillas and spread 1 TBSP of bean dip in the center of each one.
3.  Place 1/3 cup of the rice on top of the bean dip, followed by 1/6 of the bean/Rotel mixture.
4.  Top with a small sprinkle of cheese (about 1 oz), sour cream (1 TBSP), sliced avocado (1/4-1/3 of the avocado) and salsa (1/8 cup) as desired.
5.  Roll up the burrito and enjoy!

NOTES ON COOKING:
Read the ingredient list on your bean dip when you purchase it.  I was about to buy the recommended Frito Lay brand which is actually about as natural and good for you as bean dip can be (really, just read the ingredients!) when I compared it to my grocery's in house brand.  The list was identical as was the nutritional info.  The only difference was the price.  We found no difference in taste and it was worth the $.50 in savings!

I use Mahatma brand brown rice, which involved longer cooking time than instant, but provides better nutritional value.  They have a new cooking method which involves placing one or two cups of dried rice in a large pot with 10 cups of water and boiling for exactly 30 minutes.  At the end of 30 minutes, you drain the water and your rice is done!  I was amazed, it really does work and it cuts down the cooking time by about 15-20 minutes.  Make sure to check the rice before draining, just in case, and use a sieve, not a strainer to drain it off!


To keep the calorie count low, go easy on the sour cream and cheese.  Salsa is just vegetables, so the calorie count is very low; you can pile that on for more flavor and veggie intake.  Avocado is very high in fat, but its the good-for-you fats and they're chock full of antioxidants, so don't worry too much about them!  You can use reduced fat or light versions of everything listed above, but with everything on there, you'll average about 500 calories for the burrito per the Cooking Light recipe. CL actually recommends using sharp cheddar since more flavorful cheeses will allow you to use less but get more flavor, but this is Texas and I don't really like sharp cheddar on my Tex-Mex – to me, it just ain't right!

This dish makes great leftovers; just make sure to assemble everything once the ingredients have cooled and wrap it up in foil to keep the shape of the burrito until you reheat it.  Reheat it on 50% power for about a minute, flip it over, and repeat.  

Buen provecho!
Kelly