Thrifty Thursday- Mexico on a dime

With two sicks kids this week, I was scrambling to make something for dinner that fit into two categories- cheap and healthy.  Having not planned ahead, I didn't have any meat freshly purchased or thawed so tonight's dinner also fit in with one of my New Year's resolutions: to incorporate a vegetarian dinner into our diets once a week.  Coincidentally, after I made this dinner with these thoughts in mind, I caught an episode of Oprah (so cliche, I know- a housewife watching Oprah!) but it was SO relevant to my current thoughts and truly made me pledge to be more conscious in my food choices.  I really encourage you to check the truth about food .  But I digress- here is the recipe I came up with for Thrifty Thursday.

Baked Black Bean Burritos

I don't know if this technically qualifies as a burrito, but Mexican-inspired dishes are easy to improvise- the ingredients and amounts listed below are simply what I used based on what I had in my cupboard and fridge, and you can adapt according to what you have at your disposal too.  (For example- I used 3/4ths of a green pepper because I HAD 3/4ths of a green pepper, not because I thought a whole pepper would be too much or a 1/2 too little.

2-4 tortillas

1 cup cooked rice (can make ahead; I used brown Minute Rice)

3/4 green pepper

1/2 large onion

3 cloves garlic

1 can black beans

1/2 cup corn

1 can diced tomatoes (like Rotel 10 oz.)

1/2 c. salsa

1/2 c. shredded cheese

APPROXIMATELY:

2 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (start with a sprinkle and add to taste)

dash garlic powder

dash of Lawry's

Chop and saute green pepper, onion, and garlic in 1 T. olive oil over medium-high heat approx five minutes.  Add black beans, corn, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and bring to a boil; reduce heat and sprinkle with red pepper flakes to taste.  Adjust taste as needed (Lawry's, chili powder, etc)  Add rice and cook until heated.

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare a baking dish with nonstick spray and scoop desired portions into tortillas.  If needed, dip toothpicks in water and use to secure tortilla closed.  Spread salsa over tortillas and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese, season with chili powder.  Bake additional 5 minutes and serve with sour cream and cilantro if desired.

We also had a salad to go along with this....I saved a handful of corn and black beans and added that to spinach, romaine, shredded carrots, shredded cheese, onions, and crushed tortilla chips.  Served with a mix of Western and Ranch dressing and it was a great accompaniment.

¡Que sabrosa!  ¿sí?