This week's Culinary Delight

I've decided to start a new post series, since I'm always looking for new recipes to try, and I'm sure I'm not alone :-)

Every Thursday (nothing special about Thursdays, it's just the day--today--when I came up with the idea:-) I'll share one of my favorite recipes with you, my faithful readers. It may be a main dish, it may be a dessert, who knows???

Most of these recipes I've found on the Internet, so I'll try to credit the original source if I can. Although I've heard if you change or add just one ingredient, or add a different way to cook it, then it's no longer "protected"--Karen, correct me on the copyright issues, if I'm wrong...

So, without further adieu, here's today's culinary delight:

Beef & Bean Burritos
originally from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro
red pepper flakes to taste
2 15-ounce cans black or pinto beans, rinsed, drained
1 14 1/2 ounce can beef or chicken broth
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
4 green onions, sliced

Warm flour tortillas--the size of tortillas will determine how many burritos you'll have. We prefer the smaller ones, because you can eat more of them :-)
Grated cheese (your choice--we like Monterey Jack or Cheddar)
sour cream

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until brown, breaking up beef with fork, about 6 minutes. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook until onion is transparent, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Stir in cumin, cilantro & red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute. Add beans, broth & chilies and cook until beans are creamy and thickened, crushing beans with back of spoon, about 15 minutes. Mix in green onions.

Take warm flour tortilla & lay flat on plate. Put meat & bean filling in middle, cover with cheese, and fold up tortilla, burrito-style. Assemble the rest of the tortillas, and place in 13x9 inch baking pan, which has been lightly coated with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Sprinkle burritos with more cheese, and a few dollops of sour cream. Cover pan with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes~~cheese should be bubbly.

This is a very forgiving and flexible recipe. We've also used leftover chicken or pulled pork for the meat part, which cuts down on prep time. The best part is you don't even need to heat it as it will get warm enough in the oven. Just make up the rest of the filling and add the meat when assembling.

I hope you enjoy these--they are definitely one of our favorite dishes, and so easy to make!

Happy Thursday, friends!
K~

P.S. If you have a recipe you want to share, please feel free to email me at hamann@aracnet.com or just post it in the comments.