Sweet Pork Burritos with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce

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I hope you're not tired of sweet pork after my post last Friday about those amazing Sweet Pork Nachos, because I have one more recipe using it today.

I'm not messing with you here: I think I have tried just about every smothered burrito recipe under the sun. They are all lovable in their own way, but the enchilada sauce that is used in most smothered burrito recipes just doesn't do it for me.

But I've been making this green chile sour cream sauce for a few years and using it over regular old bean and cheese burritos. It is divine, and I've been known to drink it straight from the pot like soup. Inspiration finally struck, and I wondered how amazing might it be to use this awesome green chile sour cream sauce over a stuffed-to-the-gills heavenly sweet pork burrito? The answer, it turns out, is really amazing. 

The burritos are packed with a bright lime rice, pinto beans, cilantro and my favorite sweet pork ever (and I'm telling you, I have tried every sweet pork--this is The One).

Then the filling is rolled up in tortillas along with some Cheddar cheese, the burritos are lined up in a pan, and into the oven they go.

While it bakes, you'll make a really quick sauce using some chicken broth, sour cream, and green chiles. I can't even understand how such everyday ingredients can come together to make such a HECK YES sauce.

And as a bonus, they are every bit as good (if not better) as leftovers tomorrow. I used new Reynolds™ heat & eat disposable containers that I picked up at Target to pack the leftovers up for Jeff to take to work tomorrow. He brings leftovers to work for lunch just about every day, so it's always great to have a dinner that we know will be every bit as delicious the next day. And I love that these containers are specifically designed to be re-heated safely in the microwave, and can then be tossed out. I can't tell you how many times he has brought home long-forgotten containers that have been molding for weeks in his office before he remembered to bring them home. Yuck. I kinda like the idea of sending him to work with a container that goes straight from the fridge to his lunch table . . . then to the trash. I prefer not trying to scrape out unidentifiable remains of lunches long forgotten, thank you very much.

Sweet Pork Burritos with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce

Lime Rice:
(adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken broth
juice and zest of 1 lime
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in medium saucepan, and add rice. Cook and stir over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, then add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 15 minutes, remove from heat, and let sit for 5-10 minutes before removing lid.

Filling:
1 recipe Sweet Pork
1 recipe Lime Rice (above)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Combine filling ingredients.

Toppings:
12 flour tortillas
1 1/2-2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
optional toppings, to garnish finished burritos: chopped tomato, green onion, chopped cilantro, chopped avocado

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray 2 9x13" pans with nonstick spray. Spread filling in center of tortillas and top with 1-2 tablespoons cheese. Tuck in ends and roll up, placing seam-side down in pans. Bake in preheated oven 10-15 minutes. Top with sauce (recipe below).

Sauce:
(adapted from BHG)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour, divided
1 cup chicken broth
8 ounces sour cream (full fat is best!)
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles

In a small bowl, combine sour cream with 2 tablespoons flour; stir thoroughly to mix.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon flour, and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in chicken broth, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, then cook and stir an additional minute. Mix in sour cream and green chiles. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, then cook and stir an additional minute. Serve over burritos.

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If you'd like to try out new Reynolds™ heat & eat containers, you can find them at Target in the paper goods aisle!

Veggie Stuffed Breakfast Burritos

A post about running a half marathon last week, and a veggie-happy post today? Don’t worry, this will not become a health blog. I ate my weight in sugar cookies over the weekend.

As I’ve been stepping up my running, though, I’ve noticed that I have a hard time running in the morning if I’ve eaten a big breakfast, but I am always starving by the time I finish a run. I haven’t yet figured out the perfect breakfast balance—something that will give me the energy for a run without making me feel heavy and sick—but these breakfast burritos have become my favorite post-run meal.

I’ve never met a breakfast burrito I didn’t like, but they’re usually very heavy on the sausage and cheese, and I wanted to see if I could make them a good deal healthier while keeping them just as delicious—and it worked. These are so yummy, and there’s definitely no need to feel guilty about eating them. They’re perfect after a workout, or any time you want a satisfying, healthy, filling meal.

Veggie Stuffed Breakfast Burritos
Makes 3-4 burritos, depending on how full you stuff them. I put quite a bit of filling in each one and ended up with 3, but could have easily stretched it to make 4.

1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 avocado, chopped
3 or 4 flour tortillas
sour cream, optional

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter and olive oil, then add the bell peppers and onions and saute until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cilantro and saute until spinach is wilted.

Reduce heat to medium. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper.

Use a rubber spatula to push the vegetable mixture to the outer edge of the skillet, then add the eggs to the skillet and scramble. When the eggs are nearly done, mix in the vegetables. Top the eggs with the cheese and avocado, cover the skillet, and remove from heat. Let it sit for a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

When the cheese has melted, divide it between the tortillas, top with sour cream if desired, roll them up, and enjoy.

BBQ Turkey Quesadillas

For those nights when you have hungry, whiny family members and a handful of leftover odds and ends knocking around in the fridge: BBQ Turkey Quesadillas.

I made these the other night, thinking it would be one of those ‘whatever’ dinners—everyone eats it, no one dislikes it, but it’s just a way to clear out leftovers from the fridge. I think we were all surprised by how much we loved them.

Even Forrest, whose pickiness is absolutely maddening, ate some of his quesadilla (which doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement unless you, too, have experienced dinnertime with a picky eater and understand that even a taste, even the ittiest bittiest 2 or 3 bites, is an enormous victory).

These quesadillas are quick to make, flavorful and delicious, and dare I say a perfect way to use up leftover turkey or chicken? Yes, I dare it.

BBQ Turkey Quesadillas
adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Café – makes 6 quesadillas

2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, shredded or cubed (leftovers are perfect!)
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or more if you really love cilantro)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
tortillas (we like whole wheat tortillas)
additional sour cream for dipping

Combine the turkey, barbecue sauce, 1/4 cup sour cream, green onions, and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the skillet, and spread a generous scoop of the turkey mixture over half of it, then sprinkle generously with a handful each of both cheeses. Fold the empty tortilla half over filling. Cook 2-3 minutes until bottom of tortilla is crisp, then flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until tortilla is crisp on both sides and cheese is melted.

Serve each quesadilla with a generous scoop of sour cream for dipping.

If you like to prep things earlier, feel free to complete the first step earlier in the day and refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the quesadillas.

Chicken Fajita Salad Wraps with Chipotle-Lime Dressing

Things that do not count as a legitimate lunch:

1) a handful of Teddy Grahams
2) half a pan of brownies
3) while we’re on the topic, half a bowl of brownie batter
4) a Twix bar
5) 3 avocados

Yet how many times have I eaten one (or more) of the above for lunch? Many, many, many. Stay-at-home moms, you get me here, right? I don’t know why it’s so difficult to just eat normal meals when you’re at home with kids all day, but I really have a hard time with it. I’ll prepare a nice, normal lunch for Forrest and sit there to make sure he eats it, then scrounge in the pantry like a little scavenger and emerge with something ridiculous in hand and call it a meal. I’ll reach the end of the day feeling like absolute garbage, think back on my day, and realize I didn’t eat a single normal meal—just a handful of Twizzlers here, a stack of crackers there. Don’t ask me why it’s so difficult to plan ahead and eat like a normal adult human being. This is one of life’s Great Unanswerable Questions (alongside such other Great Unanswerable Questions as If There Is a God, Why Would He Allow Firefly To Be Cancelled? and . . . I’ve got nothing else, that is my only question. I DEMAND AN ANSWER!).

So here you go. One easy, simple lunch (or dinner!) idea that is delicious and filling and hopefully leaves you/me without a reason to pick up a Snickers bar and a Diet Coke and call it lunch.

Chicken Fajita Salad Wraps with Chipotle-Lime Dressing
adapted from my church’s Relief Society cookbook

Chipotle-Lime Dressing
1 cup Ranch dressing
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (or less, if you don’t want as much heat)

In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients. Set aside.

Wraps
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 cups chopped lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 can corn, drained
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
tortillas (I used whole wheat)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large bowl, combine all wrap ingredients (except tortillas and cheese). Add dressing and stir to coat. Spoon chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla and top with cheese. Roll up and serve immediately.

Crisp Chicken Salad with Apple and Basil

I definitely would not call myself a fancy cook . . . although I love trying out new recipes and experimenting with flavors, I'm not a very creative or talented chef. But I love testing out new dishes, making little changes, and pretending nothing happened if it turns out poorly.

This, however, was a success! I saw this tasty-looking chicken salad recipe at Real Simple and thought it looked delicious. I made a few little tweaks and mmmmmmmm . . . this recipe is definitely worth repeating! I love light, crisp, fruity meals for the summertime, and this one is definitely a keeper. 

One tip, though--you have to use fresh basil. Have to. This is not a drill. I know, it's kind of pricey, but don't even bother making this if you're going to replace the fresh basil with the dried stuff . . . it just wouldn't be worth it. Put that ice cream back in the freezer at the grocery store and spend your $4 on fresh basil instead. You'll be so glad you did!

Crisp Chicken Salad with Apple and Basil

(You can find the original recipe from Real Simple here, but come on, don't you trust me?)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1/4 cup lime juice

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1/3 cup mayonnaise 

2 Tbsp. light brown sugar

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil 

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Boil the chicken in lightly salted water until fully cooked, then place in a bowl of ice water while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine lime juice, vinegar, mayo, and sugar; add scallions, apples, and pecans. Shred or dice the chicken and add it to the apple mixture along with the basil, salt, and pepper. 

Toss and enjoy!

I'll be sharing this recipe at Tea Rose Home, House of Hepworths, Fingerprints on the Fridge, and the Shabby Nest!