Sadly I couldn’t exicute the original plan for this post. Alexa and I were going to do a joint post of us having a debate on tacos vs burritos. Alexa was all set to make a drawing of us and all. BUUUUT…. she had some issues at work where they were suddenly down a person. We’ve all been there with small businesses, someone is fired, has to leave suddenly, or your boss refuses to replace someone and you find yourself working over 40 hours. So she worked a lot of days in a row and needed a break. Then my husband had to work on an emergency project over the weekend and hogged the computer so I really didn’t touch it. I actually had to plug our old computer in to make the post on Saturday. But luckily I’ve been meaning to post this recipe on this tomatillo tofu burrito.
I might be a little biased in the Taco and Burrito debate. I worked at Animo in the past, and their specialty is burritos. They get pretty creative with it, pretty much pushing boundaries between wrap and burrito. Hey I am cool with that because there is something very satisfying about having hot beans mixed with cold lettuce. I do like tacos, but oddly I don’t make them often. Maybe because I usually don’t plan a meal, and just kind-of pile stuff on. So the end results are too many flavors. But some days I get my shit together and hold back on making too many fillings with my Kohlrabi Kimchi & Adzuki Bean Tacos and Miso-Harissa Acorn Squash Tacos. Burritos are a little hard to add too much. Just rice, beans, salsa, and an add in (tofu in this case, but roasted veggies are pretty good too!)
And what I love about burritos is the portability! If I wanted to have tacos for lunch I would have to store everything in their own containers. Then build them like a homemade lunchables. I wasn’t into them when I was little, so I am still not into it as an adult. But burritos are all wrapped up and ready to go. Just roll in tin foil and twist the ends. Burritos work with a lot of leftovers to hide them as something much more interesting. For example a lot of leftover stews and curries I wrap up in a burrito with leftover rice. That’s it! You can sometimes switch it up. For example I leftover chili and made various types of burritos using different leftovers, sometimes rice, sometimes with lettuce, sometimes with tofu, sometimes different salsa, etc. It makes the lunch fun and interesting.
The secret to a good burrito is portions. If you are using rice and beans, I keep the ratio 43% rice, 52% beans, 5% salsa. Just a slight bit more beans than rice, and a little bit of salsa so the rice isn’t too dry. When you are having a filling like tofu or veggies I make it about 32% rice, 32% beans, 32% filling, 4% salsa. You will get a burrito that isn’t going to leak all over your hands. And there is enough rice to keep the burrito form. Check out that photo below! Keeping to the almost equal portions equation!
These burritos take a good bit of time to make, but need very little actual active time. Sometimes I double the beans and rice so I can make leftovers with it. But this amount should be enough for about 4-5 burritos, depending on how much you stuff your flour tortillas. Learning how to wrap a solid burrito might take some time, but when you figure it out, you will really impress people, making this a great dinner for guests.
- 1 recipe of tomatillo tofu
- 1 cup brown rice
- 3 cup stock or water
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 bell pepper (any color) diced
- 1 diced hot pepper of choice
- 1 15 oz can black beans
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Salsa Verde or Salsa Morado
- 4-5 flour burrito wraps
1 Start with making the tomatillo tofu, pressing the tofu, and baking. This is the part that will take the longest.2 Once the tofu is in the oven, start the brown rice. In a pot bring 2 1/2 cups of the stock or water and brown rice to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, and let sit with the cover on until the tofu is ready.3 When you flip the tofu for the last time, start the beans. In a small pot heat some oil. Sauté the onions until translucent. Then add the bell and hot pepper, sautéing for another 3 minutes. Add the beans, tomato paste, cumin, and the remaining 1/2 cup stock or water. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed. Feel free to mash any beans to make it more like refried beans.4 Once the rice, beans, and tofu is done cooking roll your burritos. To make the wrap stretchier, microwave it for 20 seconds. Place equal amounts of tofu, rice, and beans, and a few spoonfuls of salsa on the flour tortilla, keep in food one side of the wrap. Fold the left and right side of the tortilla and gently roll the wrap and filling. For a visual, check out this quick video on YouTube. If the burrito is falling apart or is messy, wrap tin foil around it. No mess while you eat!
Jennifer
This looks PERFECT! Nice wrapping action, too! teehee