Weeknight Dinner: Lo-Cal Chipotle Bean Burritos

As you know, Mr. Grumpy and I are working on making healthier eating choices. Mr. Grumpy thinks that means just eating less Nerds and sour gummy worms. I know. I’m beside myself.

The other night at dinner, Mr. Grumpy (whilst eating his first entree salad in like … four years) told me about this book he’d been reading called Born to Run. This book has really inspired him – in fact, he was so inspired he decided to give ME tips on cooking healthier dinners for the two of us… That’s right. You read that correctly. He gave ME tips on cooking us healthier meals. Readers, I have to say in my defense – I eat and cook in a relatively healthy way. There are ways to be healthy without dieting. One of those ways is not eating an entire box of Triscuits in one sitting, no?

My head was telling me that I should explain to Mr. Grumpy that it was not I who was forcing him to eat unhealthy foods – such as Tootsie Roll Pops by the dozen. However, I sought to find a recipe that would, once again, gain Mr. Grumpy’s approval. Then, I cooked it for him on an evening that I knew he wouldn’t be home. Just for revenge reasons, of course. (I was having another one of my moments…).

Now, I’ve had a fixin’ lately for Mexican food. In fact, Sunday evening, I begged Mr. G to take me on a road trip back to our old stomping ground – Lakewood, where the closest Taco Bell is. Yes, I said Taco Bell. Sorry, I’m not sorry. Those Doritos Tacos Locos (or whatever those things are called) are my guilty pleasure. And ice cream. Which I ate after I downed $8 worth (Mr. G also ordered $8 worth of TBell) of Cool Ranch tacos. El hell yeah-o.

So, I decided we needed to find an alternative to eating at this joint, and found this recipe in a 2010 issue of Cooking Light, which I adapted to Mr. G and I’s liking. Even though the picture looks like this is oozing with calories and fat, it’s actually good for you – especially when you have been running as much as I have. When I told Mr. Grumpy we were having these for dinner he said (and I quote!), “You. Amazing.” AND he even put a smiley face in there. It was a pretty unique situation. I think we’re making strides here, Mr. G.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, smooshed and chopped into little pieces
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 can organic (no-sodium) black beans, drained
1 can organic (no-sodium) pinto beans, drained
2 tsp chipotle pepper paste (comes in a can)
3 tbsp salsa
1 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 cup Romaine lettuce, chopped
4 tbsp Organic Valley Mexican cheese blend
4 tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
4 tbsp non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
4 100-calorie tortillas (La Tortilla Factory makes a great package of these)

First, chop all your veggies. You’ll thank me later on this one because once you smell the goodiness of the beans cooking and that chipotle sauce, you’re going to want to just eat the burrito filling right out of the pan. This way, you can compile your burrito pronto, and get ready for your post-burrito siesta.

Next, heat your oil over medium heat. Add the chili powder and the salt, and stir for 30 seconds. Add the water and stir. Add the drained beans and chiptole paste. Stir. Still over medium heat, let that come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the liquid cook off by simmering the mixture for 10-11 minutes. There will still be some liquid left, and that’s fine.

Next, add the 3 tbsp of salsa into the bean mixture and remove it from heat. Smoosh about 2/3 of the beans with a fork. Stir again. You’ll notice that this really thickens it up, which is really great.

Now, let’s put those burritos together. First, wrap your tortillas in a paper towel, and microwave them for 30 seconds. On each burrito, place 1/3 cup of bean mixture, 1/4 cup tomatoes, 1 tbsp green onions, 1 tbsp Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup lettuce and 1 tbsp cheese. If you’re feeling frisky, you could add olives or green chiles (though to warn you, this already has a bit of a kick to it). We didn’t – I wasn’t feeling that frisky. Wrap that baby up, and cut in half to make for easy eating. Or wrap it in foil, and it’s the perfect lunch or picnic entree. Why? Because it’s just as good cold. So delish.

Cooking Light‘s version didnt include calories, so I put this into my UP Band by Jawbone app and 1 burrito has about 530 calories. Not too bad for a dinner, right?? Right!! Now, enjoy that fast so you can go take a nap. You’ve earned it. (As a side note – this makes four burritos. Just in case you were wondering… or didn’t feel like doing math. I dislike math, so I totally get that.)