black bean burrito

Nothing says cost effective and delicious like a good burrito! Fresh, local produce may be scarce in winter, but this hearty burrito still manages to be quite lively.

Serving Size: 4

Bean Ingredients:
1 T. canola oil
3/4 c. diced onion (1/2 medium onion)
1 tsp. freshly ground cumin
1/2 tsp. pressed garlic (4 small cloves)
1 c. cooked black beans
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. red wine
1 T. ancho chile (dried)
1 tsp. oregano
1 c. frozen corn
2 T. frozen cilantro
2 T. lemon juice
salt, black pepper, cayenne to taste

Other Ingredients:
2 c. cooked spelt berries
tortillas
salsa
cheese

Soak the spelt berries and black beans in separate pots overnight. This is optional but will make cooking quicker the next day. About an hour before you begin to prepare the meal, cook the spelt berries and blacks beans. Drain and rinse the spelt berries and black beans when they are soft enough to eat.

In a small sauce pan add onion, cumin, canola oil and a pinch of salt. Cook at medium heat until translucent or about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add black beans, red wine, water, ancho chile and oregano and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in frozen corn, cilantro and lemon juice. Add salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Simmer for at least 5 more minutes until everything is warm.

Steam or microwave the tortillas. On the center of each tortilla add a pile of spelt berries, fancy black beans, salsa and cheese. Fold them up and eat!

Side Notes:
In fall, when corn is bountiful, you can blanch the cobs, strip the kernals and freeze. Cilantro is another thing that you can freeze but since it doesn't hold up well during freezing, we only use in stews or other mushy meals. To avoid creating a giant cilantro block in the freezer, we freeze the cilantro leaves in ice cube trays.

Also, because cooking beans and grains consumes time and energy, it is smart to cook more than a single meals worth. Think about having a variety of black bean and grain meals for an entire week. Hello black bean spread!