a hard knock life: part 2- burritoes

You thought I rabbit trailed from the burritoes right? Noooo. OK, so part of my temp tooth fell out today. If you think that's gross-- deal with it. People lose teeth. It happens. I am getting a crown done on 8am on Monday morning. Not too happy about that one.

As I mentioned, I have been craving veggie burritoes for DAYS. The only places I know of in the area to get these are Chipotle and Moe's. Traditional mexican restaurants refuse to have them.

At Plaza Azteca, a college favorite right next to CNU in Newport News, they had a vegetarian section of the menu. The choices were not filling. The choices included just one of each item- like a spinach chalupa or a bean enchilada. Very bland because they no variance. Don't get me wrong-- the rest of their selection is pretty good, and flavorful. They have good margheritas, too. But their vegetarian food is not favorable-- and I find this true at most mexican restaurants aside from places designed to be a burrito bar.

If I were to ever own my dream cafe, it would also somehow include a burrito bar. I love them so. But alas, I don't like Moe's and the closest Chipotle is in Sterling. Portland, Oregon has amazing, tiny hole-in-wall burrito bars. They are the absolute best. I want more of these in Northern VA, but alas due to the monopoly of chains in this region, it does not happen outside of DC/Arlington area. Dang 'burbs.

These burritoes are huge, and I put a lot of stuff in them. The sudden collaspe of my fake tooth today, placed but a small damper on appeasing my passion, my desire, my want for a legitamately good veggie burrito.

But I still strive forward!! Eat smaller bites, chew on one side of my mouth, do whatever it takes to consume good food.

Last night I made my food and this time you even have pictures to enjoy!

I will list what I put in my burrito and what I did for each item.

1) Boil up some rice. It takes about 25 minutes. I used some sorta name brand Mexican rice that is organic, gluten-free, and has no trans-fats. Here's a picture of the kind I used:

2)While that's going on, start chopping veggies. Chop some graffiti eggplant, salt it, and throw it in a greased baking pan, in the same pan, add some red pepper, vidalia onions, scallions, zucchini, and cut 1/2 a jalepeno real fine. Throw some good taco seasoning on top( key: look at back of package for ingredients and see if you recognize mostly everything). Add some cumin and black pepper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Place in oven for 15 minutes on 425.

3) Guacamole time. Take two very ripe avocados, peel them, and mash them around. Add a drizzle of lemon juice, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, a diced roma tomato, some scallions and chopped cilantro, a few chopped leaves of basil, a tiny bit of jalepenos to taste, and a spoonful of dairy-free sour cream (not necessary but yummy)! Mash together!!

4) Corn and Bean Salsa: I actually started with the cold bean salad I made, which dwindled down to a little bit of black beans, red beans and corn. I added half a can of more corn, and chopped 4 roma tomatoes real small. Added barely a quarter of a red pepper, half a jalenpeno, cilantro, scallions, two cloves of crushed garlic, some cumin and black pepper. A squirt of lemon juice.

Some other key components to have on handy:
very good lettuce
sour cream (in this case, dairy-free variety)
refried beans (at my parents' house my dad puts it on the stove under a low heat, adds a little bit of water and sprinkles cheese on the top)

I toyed with the idea of buying a fake mexican cheese, vegan style. But quite frankly, the idea just grossed me out.

With these flavorful toppings, I ate two vibrantly amazing burritoes today. And it's only 7.

And it's so harrrd to resist eating big bites of the burrito-- to get the taste of everything at once!