Burrito bowl
A burrito bowl is nothing but all the fixings of a burrito without the tortilla. It is usually served in a large bowl. A guilt free way of enjoying the burrito as you can reduce your intake of carbs. Since we don’t get good avocados in Chennai through the year, anytime we do find good ones we centre our meal around the avocado, thus today’s burrito bowl.
You can have anything with the flavour of Mexico in your bowl. For this one I had black beans, bamboo rice, guacamole, salsa and coloured peppers. Black beans can be replaced with rajma as well.
Black beans
Black beans – 1/2 cup (soak overnight)
Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
Paprika – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cook the soaked black beans and mash well. Add salt, cumin powder and chili powder to taste
Bamboo rice
Bamboo rice enjoys a very high nutritional value so I used this rice. The nuttiness and crunch of the cooked bamboo rice adds a very nice taste and texture to this meal. You can break the crunchiness of the rice with some fresh tomatoes also. Any rice or quinoa can be used instead.
Bamboo rice – 1/2 cup (soak for 30 minutes)
Cook soaked rice with 2 1/2 cups of water till rice is done. Add diced tomatoes and season with salt, cumin powder and paprika.
Guacamole
Ripe avocado – 1
Tomato – 1
Onion – 1
Coriander – 1 sprig
Juice of 1 lemon
Crushed black pepper – 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Mash the avocado and add finely chopped tomato, onion and coriander. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Salsa
Ripe tomatoes – 6
Onion – 1
Garlic – 2 cloves
Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
Paprika powder – 1-2 tsp
Jalapeño peppers – 1 (diced) optional
Salt to taste
Olive oil – 1 tsp
Cut tomatoes and blend well. Add chopped onions and garlic to a kadai with the olive oil. When onion is cooked add the purée of tomatoes and spices and cook till it thickens. Add the jalapeños and keep aside.
Vegetable
Cut any vegetables like coloured peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers etc into 1 cm cubes.
Putting together the burrito bowl
Add the rice, beans, guacamole, salsa and vegetables to a bowl, dig in and enjoy. You can add some cheese and or sour cream should you so desire.