Chipotle Bean Burritos

John and I have been enjoying a lot of recipes from my Cooking Light subscription lately (and our pants are fitting better for it, I'm happy to say). While perhaps not as exciting as, say, tiramisu, these burritos have a lot of other admirable qualities: they are tasty, healthy, and easy to make. Plus, it's hard to come by a cheaper protein source than beans (and John says he didn't miss the meat). We stuck to the recipe, but you could definitely add additional spices or toppings (I was a little disappointed that I didn't have an avocado on hand to roll up in these). We used regular tortillas, rather than the low-fat ones called for in the recipe, but I doubt it made too much of a difference in the calorie count (with the low-fat tortillas, you're looking at 360 calories per burrito). And the regular tortillas probably taste better... just sayin'.

Chipotle Bean Burritos
from Cooking Light (Jan/Feb 2010)

Ingredients:
1  tablespoon  canola oil
1  garlic clove, minced
1/2  teaspoon  chipotle chile powder (or 1/2 teaspoon regular chile powder and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/3  cup  water
1  (15-ounce) can organic black beans, drained
1  (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained
3  tablespoons  refrigerated fresh salsa
6  (10-inch) tortillas
1  cup  (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
1 1/2  cups  chopped plum tomato (about 3)
1 1/2  cups  shredded romaine lettuce
6  tablespoons  thinly sliced green onions
6  tablespoons  light sour cream

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Partially mash bean mixture with a fork.

2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla. Top each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon onions, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

Makes 6 burritos.

Download a printable recipe.
.