Bowl of Berries

I LOVE that the weather has warmed up.  We haven’t gotten to the sticky hot yet, but I am sure that will start next week.  Now that things are settling down I have enjoyed being able to come home, workout, cook dinner and just relax.  Though with working out means I am sleepy by 10pm.  My parents stay up later then me!

I have been obsessed with Mexican food for the last few weeks and will take any chance I can to eat it though the cheap Mexican restaurants will sorta counteract the working out :)  So I decided to try and make some Mexican inspired turkey burgers and found a recipe that included refried beans.  Yep you read that right.  Since I had some leftover from a Monday night bean burrito craving I thought I might as well try it!  I only added about a cup to the pound of meat and next time I made add a bit less because you could definitely taste the beans but I thought it was kinda cool!  Scottie wasn’t too sure about them but once he added ketchup he was good to go.  I topped these with thin slices of pepper jack cheese but with the spinach and tomato on top I couldn’t really taste it.  Next time I won’t skimp on the cheese so much.

The leftover patties made really nice wraps the next day.  I smeared a half an avocado on a whole wheat wrap, added some leftover grilled zucchini, a crumbled turkey bean burger and some chopped tomato.  It was DELISH!  I hope you will give them a try next time you are feeling adventurous!

Mexican Turkey Burgers

1 pound lean, ground turkey meat
1 cup fat free refried beans
1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pepper jack cheese

Gently combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Form into 4-5 patties and place in freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up.

Heat grill over medium- high heat.  Grill meat until internal temperature reaches about 165, top with  pepper jack cheese.  Once cheese melts remove and serve on whole wheat buns, and topping of your choice. (salsa, avocado, tomato, lettuce.

I decided to not make Black Bean Tostados and went with trying to recreate the Chipotle Burrito.  I think Chipotle’s are just about everywhere, you may know Moe’s or Qdobo…they are all pretty much the same thing.  Gargantuan burritos that weight about 2 pounds each, and in case you are still hungry they have really thin, salty chips that I can never stop eating.  I had just about everything to make these burritos, including the massive tortilla.  I found these fantastic whole wheat tortillas from Whole Foods that work perfectly, they stay really soft even a few days later and are much better for you then the ones they serve in the restaurant.  Oh and they are HUGE and easy to stuff with as much as you want.

Scottie was in charge of making the guacamole, the 2 avocados I had were mashed and to that he added half of a large tomato, 2 jalapenos, 1/4 of a large red onion (though I would add less next time), about a cup of chopped cilanto, the juice of one lime and some salt.  YUM!  So good!  Next time we may use some hotter peppers because these were more like bell peppers, but it was still delish and so easy.  I made some lime basmati rice (see below) and shredded some leftover chicken breasts and re-heated it in some fajitas spices and a bit of water.  I used a bit of the same fajitas spices to perk up some black beans.  Then it was just a matter of shredding some cheddar and getting out the sour cream.

The beauty of this is that you can add as little or as much as you want, including as much guac as your little heart desires without getting charged extra :)  Ah the beauty of cooking at home.  Scottie menitoned that this was ten times better then Chipotle because is tasted fresher and less processed.  I couldn’t agree more.  We both gobbled up our burritos and I snacked on some chips and guac while he made a nacho/burrito bowl type thing with some leftovers since I only had two wraps.  Add in some margaritas and I’ll say this was a successful meal.  I am not sure I can go spend $6 on this now that I have recreated it at home!

Chipotle’s Lime Basmati Rice

1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
2 tsp. fresh cilantro
2/3 cup white basmati rice
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Lime

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted.  Add rice,lime juice, and lime zest, stir for1 minute.   Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil.  At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tenderand the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. (I added about 1/2 more water as I felt it needed a bit more liquid- use your judgment) Fluff rice with a fork.