Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burrito Recipe (Video)

 

     Back in 1996 when I used to live in Washington DC, most of my shifts at the first restaurant I worked at were lunch time shifts. For those who have not been in the business yet, starting as a rookie meant the day started super early. I had bags of onions waiting to be peeled, tubs of calamari to be cleaned, an endless mountain of mussels that needed the beard removed and the shells scuffed, and not to forget the sacks of potatoes to be peeled. Every morning I would ask myself quite often why I choose this over law. Now I say:” I am lucky I did”. Happy days LOL. The worst part of the job was when I had the night shift and finished around 1 am when the next day was a morning shift. That meant one thing, early wake up, snoozing the alarm 20 times and running late. I dreaded running late as we had a card punching system topped with a horrible manager, scary and bellowed like a rhinoceros. That meant standing at 6:00 a.m. in line to order a breakfast burrito from the burrito shop at the top of 18th street in Adams Morgan, now the restaurant is long gone. Breakfast burritos are simply yummy. Flour tortillas filled with scrambled egg, hash brown, sausage, cheese… name it, whatever you want in it you get in it. It had the works and that was enough to sustain me for my breakfast and lunch.

     There are many varieties of burritos and there is no rule as to what it holds. The traditional will have beans, rice, cheese, salsa, sour cream and a meat of some sort. It could be a breakfast burrito, a wet burrito smothered with chili sauce or a dry burrito. The tortilla acts like a vessel that holds a meal on the go.

     Butternut squash and black beans are a match made in heaven. Between the two of them they are high in antioxidants, vitamin A. potassium, iron, calcium, folate, manganese, vitamin B6 and c. In addition, they are high in fibre which helps regulate blood sugar, a healthy option for a suhoor meal.

     When buying butternut squash make sure it is free of brown spots or cuts. This way, it can keep out of the fridge in a shaded cool place for months.

 

 

Ingredients:

Servings: 4 – 5

  • 3 cups butternut squash, cut 1cm thick cubes
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tin black beans, drained
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • Sliced chili
  • 2 cups cooked white rice
  • 200 grams spinach leaves
  • 2 cups cheese
  • Chopped green onions
  • Coriander leaves

 

 

Method:

* In a cast iron skillet saute the onions, garlic and butternut squash for 10 to 15 minutes adding the paprika, pepper, chili and salt until they are nicely browned and cooked.

* Drain the black beans and toss with the butter nut squash and adjust the seasoning.

* Place a 30 cm round flour tortilla on the work top and add as much generous amount of the butternut squash mix in the center of the tortilla then add the rice, baby spinach, cheese, fresh chilies, green onion and coriander.

* Fold in both sides of the tortilla and roll whilst tucking in the folded sides until you have a sealed roll.

* Wrap in foil and place in a 180 c oven for 7 to 8 minutes just to allow the cheese to melt.

* Serve it with your favorite salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

 

Tips:

* There are no rules for the filling to use. Feel free to create your own.

* Skinny burritos are great for a lunch box alongside a salad.

* You can make burritos ahead of time, store them wrapped in the fridge and warm them in the oven or microwave.

* hey are suitable for freezing. In this case once defrosted heat it uncovered in a 180c oven for around 10 minutes.

 

 

Per Serving : 359 Calories; 1g Fat (3.3% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 74g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 39mg Sodium.