Quinoa, Black Bean, and Pumpkin Burritos

It's been probably three years since I've had decent mexican food. Despite Louisiana's proximity to Texas, Lake Charles only has a handful of not-so-authentic places. I suppose the place we used to go in Urbana wasn't exactly the real deal, but it sure was better than anything in LC.

I've been wanting to try my hand at burritos. I saw a recipe for pumpkin and black bean soup and thought it might work as a filling. Boy did it ever.

Notes: This dish can only be described as "crazy delicious." It has exactly the right amount of heat for me, but if you want it milder, I'd use one rather than two chipotles. This dish has a lot of steps and it violates my "use fewer dishes rule," but it was so good, I got over it. If you wanted to make it for a dinner party, you could make both the quinoa and the black bean mix the day before. Just store them in the fridge and assemble everything when you're ready to bake.

For those who don't know, chipotles are smoked jalapenos. They come canned in adobo sauce. You can usually find them in the mexican food aisle or wherever your other canned chiles are. They are soft, so if you want to remove the seeds, just lay them on a cutting board, open them up, and scrape the seeds out with the tip of your knife.

If you want a thicker bean mixture, you can always add more pumpkin.

I do not have a foolproof or even good method for rolling burritos. I just try to keep everything from falling out. There are videos all over YouTube, if you are so inclined. But if you're lazy like I am, just use the "tuck and roll" method from the egg post.


Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 bell pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 chipotles in adobo, seeds removed
1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 cup quinoa
2 cups (plus 1/2) water
Grated monterrey jack cheese
Large flour tortillas
Salt
Pepper
Fat of choice (I used butter)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350.

Start by prepping your veggies. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and chop the bell pepper. Add your fat of choice to the pan and turn it to medium-high. Once it heats up, add the veggies and saute while you do everything else.

Add your quinoa and 2 cups of water to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then turn to a simmer. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the water is absorbed.

While the quinoa is cooking, rinse and drain the canned beans. Pull our your chipotles, take out the seeds, and mince the peppers. Add the beans, chipotles, adobo sauce, and pumpkin to your pan with the veggies. Use a potato masher or a fork to mash some of the black beans. Add a 1/2 cup of water and turn the heat down. You just want it to simmer until your quinoa is finished.

While the quinoa is finishing, grate your cheese. Once everything is done, assemble the burrito. Put a large spoonful (like a serving spoon size) of quinoa in the middle of the burrito toward the bottom. Put the same size spoonful of the black bean mixture on top of the quinoa. Leave yourself enough room to fold it over. Tuck in the sides, roll the filling over, tuck in the sides again, and then roll once more. Put the burrito seam-side down into a glass baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas until you have the desired amount of burritos.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the burritos and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Serve with your favorite garnishes and enjoy!