Saturday, April 30, 2011

Meal Planner Monday - Mexican - Speedy Beef and Bean Burritos (ah, I mean Tacos)

It's Cinco de Mayo time again...I just absolutely love Mexican and Latin cuisine! I recently found a couple of great Mexican cookbooks which I am looking forward to trying some delicious recipes from. I hope to learn more about their cooking, also, since I really don't know the difference between a soft taco and a burrito. Does anyone know?
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I am posting one of the recipes that I recently tried from a cookbook called "Mexican Fiesta" (p. 50)
This was my adaptation...
1 pound ground beef
1 bunch of green onions, chopped (or 1 cup chopped onion)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup salsa
2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
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Top with your favorite taco sauce or hot sauce, to taste, and freshly shredded cojack or Monterey Jack cheese.
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Combine beef, onion, garlic and chopped peppers in large skillet; cook over medium-high heat until beef is no longer pink, breaking beef apart with wooden spoon. Pour off drippings. Stir in beans, salsa and cumin into beef mixture; reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro into filling. Spoon filling down centers of warmed tortillas. Top with cheese and sauce to your likings. Roll up and serve immediately.
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We had been to Pittsburgh about a month ago and I had bought some fresh homemade corn tortilla shells from an ethnic market called Reyna's in the Strip District...these made this recipe oh my, soooo good! Those tortillas are definitely something I'll be stopping in for the next time we are in Pittsburgh.
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Here are a few more ideas from Food Network...
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And I watched this episode of the Neelys this weekend and have added these to my list of recipes to try...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

i can't see all of it....your picture at the top takes up half the page...and blurry....

Chef Bobby Flay said...

A taco is fillings wrapped in a tortilla. The tortilla can be crisp (a taco shell), cooked soft or uncooked, flour or corn, and fully rolled or just folded. Fillings include meats, cheese, vegetables, and salsa.
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A burrito is fillings fully enclosed in a tortilla (rolled with ends tucked in) and cooked; it can be either baked or fried. Some outlets call a taco a "burrito" when they fully enclose the contents, especially breakfast tacos, even though they don't fry or bake them.

Jen said...

So, these should be called tacos, then...thanks Bobby Flay :)

Jen said...

Joni, it's fine for me...try again?

Dad said...

I guess I will not have it this May. We volunteer that day and I am sure the hospital will not have a "great surprise" for lunch. This is the week for ham and cheese sandwich. he he he