The Best Basic Burritos

Anyway, these burritos are something that I actually made before the baby was born. I had planned to freeze some of them so that we could have some easy meals, but we accidentally... ate all of them.

The fact is, I haven't used any freezer meals that I had made anyway. I have a million chicken pot pies sitting in the freezer that I thought I would have to ration for really hard days with the chub, but so far he's been such a good boy (did I mention yet that he's the perfect child???) that I've been more concerned about "having to eat those chicken pot pies at some point".

But anyway, in case you didn't know, Samuel is a huuuuuuuge fan of Mexican food. Whenever I ask him what he wants for dinner, the answer is always the same: "Well, we haven't had tacos for a while" (a while meaning a couple of days).

I do make these about once a week on average and then they usually reappear on the sajian by Friday night in the form of nachos. I never use a recipe, so they turn out a little bit different every time, but I must have chosen the perfect time to actually write down the recipe for once because Samuel is still talking about how perfect these particular burritos were. In fact, I think he thinks I'm going to be famous as soon as I hit publish. Well, here goes nothing...

(P.S. Samuel made these tortillas from scratch! Recipe coming soon...)

• • The Best Basic Burritos
  • A few tablespoons oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped well
  • 3 bell peppers, chopped well
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped very small
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • Hot chili powder to taste (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 lime
  • 1 15 oz. can black beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 cup cooked rice (I used jasmine rice)
  • Cilantro, lime wedges, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, avocado etc.
  • Saute the peppers, onion, garlic, and jalapeno over medium high heat until slightly browned.
  • Combine all the spices together and season the beef with about 1 tablespoon of the combined spices. Brown the meat in the pan with the peppers.
  • Once the meat is browned and begins sticking to the pan, add about a cup of water and the remaining spices. Cut the lime into wedges, squeeze the juice into the meat and stir the squeezed lime wedges right into the meat mixture to simmer.
  • Continue simmering this mixture until the peppers and onions are totally cooked down (maybe about 1/2 hour). Add more water if it begins sticking again.
  • Adjust seasonings to taste and remove lime wedges. Add the beans and rice and mix well, continuing to cook until heated through.
  • Serve on flour tortillas with Cilantro, lime wedges, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, avocado etc.