Vegan Burrito Bowl

So I had gotten a recipe from a coworker for a vegetarian burrito bowl recipe that was a little bland looking and used quinoa. I sent the recipe onto my sister-in-law for her to re-make it for our Project Runway marathon night. She did and it was great…two bowls worth great. But hey-quinoa is super healthy right?

Well I decided I that I wanted more of this yummy greatness and decided I wanted it for lunches for the week. That is me-able to eat the same thing day-after-day without boredom. Oh well, when it is good why not keep eating it? This is also a good thing because I don’t usually eat burritos when I go out-one because they are usually humungous at the sit-down restaurants and two because for some reason I have never gotten into the Chipotle wonderland, and was not impressed with their burrito bowl-especially since they have no flavor and no veg protein options.

So here I revamped it for myself. I decided to keep it old-school with the brown rice, but made my special Spanish-style rice. This just means I added spicy tomato sauce (usually salsa, but I wanted that for a topping). I wanted to have a spicy base for the seasoned and flavorful toppings.

I started the process with my new favorite thing of using bulk dried beans. I love that a package of beans will last me for long time and many portions, rather than one can and you are done and out the same amount of money. The bag of beans I had said to sit overnight in a bowl of water then boil for 8 hours…well…that doesn’t work for me. So, I washed them then dropped the two cups of dried beans into a pot of water for about an hour on medium high. A little on the tough side but oh well, it just adds to the textures already going on in the bowl.

I chopped all veggies and started them out in a large sauce pan, and after getting everything going I found I needed my large pasta pot for all the veg. But it worked out a lot better because at the end, like an inexperienced dummy, I found that should have started the veggies in reverse with the sweet potatoes and carrots having the longest sweat and sauté time in the pan and not the onions and peppers. I do this whenever I cook with the sweet potato and then I have to put the lid on the pot to sweat everything together. It ends up being for the best, since everything can just meld together, but still…rooky mistake.

Also, the toppings for my bowls’ were one small tomato, a small handful lettuce and cilantro, a 100 Calorie Wholly Guacamole packet and Newman’s Own salsa. They are in the ingredients list but not in the calorie and others list; they are optional so I decided not to add them to the MyFitnessPal recipe app. But, they are definitely worth it because you need the sweetness and coolness of the tomato and lettuce, because everything else is spiiiicy! I love the 100 calorie packets of Wholly Guac, because they are portioned out for you and you don’t have to cut up the avocado yourself! And, I love Newman’s Own salsa and that all proceeds of them item go to charity!

Vegan Burrito Bowl, 9 servings

2 C Pinto Beans

1 C Uncle Ben’s Brown rice

1 ¼ C Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Yellow Onion, chopped

1 Red Peppers, chopped

2 Small Green Peppers, chopped

2 Tbsp Minced garlic

1 Tbsp Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 Tsp Cumin

2 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tsp Paprika

1 Tsp Chive

2 sweet potatoes cubed

2 4oz Portobello Mushrooms, chopped

1/2 Tsp Salt

2 Long Carrots, chopped

1 Pkg Frieda’s Soy Taco Meat

Wholly Guacamole

Cilantro

Green onion

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Newman’s Own Salsa

If using dried beans, start the process with enough time for them to soften; be sure to keep enough water in the pot so they don’t burn to the bottom.
Measure out rice to a small pot. Pour tomato sauce into measuring cup then fill the rest with water. Follow package instructions for boiling.
Pour olive oil into pot/pan. Chop onions and peppers into small chunks and drop pan. Toss in minced garlic. Sweat out the onions and peppers.
While onions and peppers are sweating chop the sweet potatoes.
Drop all seasonings onto o & p’s and stir well. Drop in sweet potatoes and mix well. Cover with lid.
Chop the Portobello’s into small chunks. Drop in with other veggies-salt the mushrooms to pull out the liquids and give other veggies something to move in.
Chop whole carrots into small rounds and drop in with everything else.
Let entire mixture cook together about 20 minutes.
Add in beans and soy meat and mix. Let cook and blend together for about 10 more minutes.
Add rice to mixture and mix well.
Portion out.
Add toppings.

Fitting Into Vegan

I am making the switch from vegetarian to vegan – come with me on this journey of food, health, and fitness.