burittos on the fly

Refried beans are great, nutricious, and make excellent organic finger paints for junior, but what else can you do with them?  Well, wrap ‘em up and eat them of course!!

Tortilla’s are the Mexican wrap of choice. Thanks to the latest health binge the food industry has bent over backwards to cash in and created all sorts of flavors and varieties of tortillas. Sometimes marketed as wraps, most likely because of the tortilla’s lard filled history, and now you can find fat free, lard free, spinach flavored whole wheat fiber enriched super tortillas. As is far too late for me, I stick with the more traditional flour tortillas. Besides, after you roll up a load of refrieds there’ll be fiber aplenty in the dish.

Tortillas most likely started out as portable lunch meals farmers could pack along with them. Typically made of corn flour called masa, they probably constituted a major part of the early Mexican diet. They’ve been around a long time whatever their origin as the Aztecs used them as an edible vehicle for insect eggs they relished, and no, I don’t have a recipe for bug spawn burritos. I am only an inadvertent insectivore, consuming them only when they happened to fall into the mixer at the bakery (and they do). Think of that the next time you bite into that Wonder Bread sandwich.

But I digress. Buy some burrito size tortillas in the flavor of your choice open the pack and pull out the number of tortillas you’ll need. I only make two burritos at a crack so I use three tortillas, two for the burritos and one to place on top of my head while I cook. This appeases Teotehuatortilla, the ancient Olmec tortilla god, thus ensuring the burrito won’t be consumed in a ball of vengeful fire on my cook top. Keeping an eye on the pan at all times and controlling the heat will also ensure there are no fiery mishaps.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave for about 45 secs to make them pliable. Have your refrieds, some grated Mexican cheese, and slice olives ready and start filling the warm tortillas.  Place a couple of table spoons of the refrieds in a line along the center of the tortilla. Don’t over fill or you’ll wind up with a large mess when you roll. Top with some shredded cheese and the olives, fold the sides over to cover the filling then fold the side nearest you over the filling, and roll it up. You should have a tube o’ beans when you are done. Now you could eat it as is or heat two tablespoons of oil in a 12” frying pan on medium high heat, placing the tortillas flap side down in the oil. Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Give the burritos a few minutes of fry action, and then gingerly lift them to check the side in the oil. If it is a nice golden brown carefully flop the burritos on the undone side and stick the pan in the oven. Bake for around 15 minutes, then (using a potholder please!) retrieve the pan from the oven an dinner is served. You have gone from burrito to Chimichonga. Chimichonga roughly translates out to “Uncle Juan burned the tortillas again,” in case you are interested. Please do remember the handle of the pan is red hot and don’t be tempted to grab at it with bare hands after it emerges from the oven. I still have the word “Calphalon” branded on the palm of my left hand from the time I merely pushed the handle to turn it in toward s the center of the stove to keep kids from accidently touching it.