http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/124/28105
Fill Your Freezer Recipe — Burritos
By Cheri Sicard
Photo: Mitch Mandell
Posted October 26th, 2008
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Author Notes:
These burritos are awesome! You make a bunch in advance, keep them in your freezer, and anytime you want a quick meal or snack, cook for about 2-3 minutes in the microwave. Adults and kids love them.
If you have a freezer and microwave at work, you’re set for lunch, although you may have to keep your coworkers from stealing them, once they see what you’re eating.
The recipe below is written as a utility recipe, meaning you can use the specific ingredients you prefer and/or happen to have on hand. I often use this recipe to clean out the freezer and fridge of various meats and veggies, and I’ve been known to make as many as 60 burritos at a time!
Why not? Once you gather together all your ingredients and supplies, it’s just as easy to make lots as it is to make a few.
See the instructions below for further notes on ingredients, variations and substitutions. The amount of ingredients you will need will depend on how many burritos you want to make (this is a great way to use leftovers). Multiply the amount of ingredients below by the number of burritos you want to make.
Ingredients:
Mix and Match Per 8-inch Tortilla Burrito:
generous 1/4 cup cooked rice or cooked Spanish rice
1/4 cup chopped cooked protein – cooked beef, chicken, pork, or tofu
generous 1/8 cup grilled veggies
generous 1/8 cup cooked beans (black and/or pinto beans work well)
generous 1/8 cup grated cheese
1 tablespoon cooked salsa (see Related Recipes section below for recipes), optional
18-inch flour tortilla
Mix and Match Per 10-inch Tortilla Burrito:
1/3 cup cooked rice or cooked Spanish rice
1/3 cup chopped cooked protein – cooked beef, chicken, pork, or tofu
1/3 cup grilled veggies
1/3 cup cooked beans (black and/or pinto beans work well)
1/3 cup grated cheese
1/8 cooked salsa (see Related Recipes section below for recipes), optional
1 10-inch flour tortilla
Instructions: Gather your ingredients together. I sometimes take several days to prepare before actually making the burritos. Making beans (usually in my slow cooker) one day, salsas another day, grill meat, tofu, and veggies another. When I have all the pieces, I make a big burrito assembly line.
burritos from the freezer
To make individual burritos for the freezer, center a tortilla on a piece of freezer paper, wax paper, or parchment paper.
Leaving about an inch margin at the bottom, layer ingredients in a single line down the center of the tortilla as in the photo below.
burritos for the freezer
fold up the bottom of the tortilla, fold one side over, and roll up as tightly as possible. fold the paper over the burritos, tucking in both sides, the tightly rolling the burritos in the paper as in the photos below.
freezer burritosburritos for the freezer
burritos for the freezerburritos, freezer friendly
freezer friendly burritosfreezer friendly burritos
Pack paper wrapped burritos in a zipper top plastic freezer bag. When ready to eat, remove burritos from the paper and put on a microwave safe plate. Unwrap and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Carefully turn the burritos over – careful, it will be hot! Microwave another minute. Remove from oven and enjoy. Add additional salsa and/or hot sauce as desired.
All microwaves are different, so you may need to adjust cooking times for your oven. Check often during cooking and make notes of just how long it takes your oven to perfectly cook the burritos.
Freezer Friendly Burrito Making Tips
* Once you assemble together all the ingredients, it’s just as easy to make lots of these at once as it is to make just a few. I’ve been known to make as many as 60 at a time and pass out extras that I couldn’t fit in my freezer to appreciative friends and family members (everybody loves a quick meal or snack they can pull out of their freezer).
* Feel free to mix and match the above ingredients in any combinations that suit you – if you eliminate one, add more of another. The only ingredient I don’t recommend cutting is the rice – unless you plan on eating the burritos right away instead of freezing. If you do plan on freezing, I find that rice will soak up any excess moisture, keeping the burritos from becoming too wet upon reheating. Otherwise, if you don’t like beans, leave them out. Don’t have any cooked meat on hand? Make a rice, bean, and cheese burrito, etc.
* Grilled veggies like onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, etc. are always a tasty and healthy addition. Just about anytime I have a fire in the grill going, I grill up a bunch of veggies for this (and other) purpose. Just brush with oil and grill.
* The addition of grilled tofu is great for vegetarian burritos — just brush with oil and lay firm tofu on the grill, just as you would meat.
* Label and date the bags that hold the burritos in your freezer. Try to use within 3 months. Trust me, that won’t be a problem.
* Why cooked salsa? Because raw veggies that are frozen emit too much water which will make your burritos soggy.
Related Features
* Black Bean and Tofu Enchiladas for the Freezer
* Easy Anytime Salsa
* French Bread Pizzas for the Freezer
Butternut Squash Tarts and the Credit Crunch Lunch
The economic doom and gloom has crept into our kitchen. But it's a good thing. We worked out the school lunch meal bill for Alex and Freddie was about £1200 ($2069) a year. The meals are made from decent ingredients but I still think its a lot of money for a child's lunch. So here is the Great Big Veg Challenge Credit Crunch Lunch. Alex has switched onto packed lunches, Freddie is still unconvinced and every morning inspects his sister's lunchbox, looking wistfully...
“This is SO unfair. She is getting really nice food. You are trying to ma-nip-ul-ise me,” complained Freddie.
“No Freddie, it is entirely up to you - if you want to have these lunches you only have to ask.”
I know, its a sly trick. And the hardest thing is ensuring that I can maintain the irrestibility of the packed lunches. Our first Credit Crunch Lunch offering for the blog is Butternut Squash and St Agur cheese tarts. (Cost approximately 40 pence a tart)
Butternut Squash and St Agur Tarts
500g (1 1b) ready-made shortcrust pastry
For the filling
Half a medium sized butternut squash, roasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to season
3 eggs, beaten
1 egg yolk
150ml (quarter pint) creme fraiche
1 teaspoon of dried sage
125g St Agur cheese
Preheat oven to 180 C (350F). Cut the squash in half lengthways, scoop out seeds and rub a little oilive oil, season with salt and pepper and place flesh side down on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. When cooked, allow it to cool down, peel and cut into small cubes. Place in a bowl with a little olive oil and the dried sage. Mix together the beaten eggs, extra egg yolk and creme fraiche. Add a twist of freshly ground pepper.
Line the bottom of metal tartlet tins (mine are around 12 cms in diameter) with non-stick baking paper. Lightly grease the sides of the tins. Line with the pastry and prick it. Bake blind for about 6 minutes in an oven at 190C. You can if you prefer make just one large tart in a single flan tin, or this recipe makes about 8 tartlets. Take them out of the oven and share out equally the butternut squash cubes between the pastry cases. Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle equally between the cases little pieces of the cheese. St Agur tastes good but if you prefer milder tastes, some soft goats cheese. Place them back in the oven and bake for about 20 -25 minutes. The contents of the quiche will rise. Take care that the pastry does not burn.
I batch bake these and freeze them and they can be taken out the night before to be defrosted for use in school lunch boxes. They are just as delicious eaten cold as warm.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE CREDIT CRUNCH LUNCH BOX MEAL?