OzLady’s Ramblings

Sometimes I end up with a bunch of vegetables (and sometimes small quantities of meat) in my fridge that are on the verge of expiring. You all know what I mean – you gotta cook ‘em up before they rot. One alternative is to make a vegetable soup. This is another alternative, as usually I have loads of lettuce, tomato & cheese on hand at any time (they are staples in my fridge).

Burrito-style leftovers

Note that this is in no way a ‘traditional’ burrito recipe – it’s just my way of dealing with leftover veges and meat in the fridge!

Ingredients

I generally use the following as a minimum, however any additional left over vegetables that can be ground or boiled down are good fillers for this recipe (including onions, carrots, mushrooms, beans, olives, etc).

1 onion(roughly chopped)
2 cloves garlic
50g olive oil
1 carrot (roughly chopped)
4-5 rashers of bacon (or left over minced beef/chicken/pork)
1 can of kidney beans (or chili beans, or refried beans – whichever is available/left over)
1 medium red chili (roughly chopped) (or chili powder)
Herbs & Spices to taste – I like cumin, pepper, salt & oregano

Method

1. Add garlic, olive oil and onion into the Thermomix bowl. Chop for 4-5 seconds on speed 6. Scrape down the sides with the TM spatula.
2. Saute contents of bowl for 5 mins, Veroma temperature, speed 1.
3. Add chopped carrot and chili to the bowl. Chop for 4-5 seconds on speed 6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the TM spatula. Remember to keep the MC in the lid for this step – the mixture is hot.
4. Either dice the bacon by hand, or chop  for 2 seconds on speed 6. Dicing by hand usually results in chunkier bacon bits. This is up to your personal preference. Add any other meat here.
5. Cook on Veroma temperature, speed 1 for 2-4 minutes (this will vary depending on the meat – as a guide: bacon usually only requires 2 mins, beef mince I usually cook for 4 mins).
6. Add 1 tsp of cumin powder, 1 tsp of oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Mix for 30 seconds on speed 1.
7. Add beans and cook for 5 minutes, Veroma temperature, speed 1.
8. Taste and add any spices for flavour.
9. Cook for 5 mins, 100 degrees, speed soft.
10. Optional – some like full beans in their mix. Others prefer a mushy consistency. if you prefer to have everything ‘mushed’ mix for 10 seconds on speed 5. Up to your personal preference. Remember to keep the MC in the lid for this step – the mixture is hot.

To assemble the burrito

I generally like to have mine open at one end, but you can wrap them closed if you like. You can find instructions on folding a burrito here.

In the centre of the wrap put:

• 2 dessert spoons of the bean/meat mix
• small amounts each of lettuce, tomato, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa (I generally assemble them in that order)
• Wrap

Sometimes the wraps get messy and won’t stay together, so I sometimes use wax paper as a wrap around the wrap, so that I can wrap a whole bunch on a plate and serve them, and everyone can help themselves.

Plates and napkins are definitely recommended for this!