Boldly flavored beans, topped with salsa, cashew chipotle sauce and fresh herbs. You’re going to love this simple chipotle flavored bean burrito!
This dish was inspired by the quaint Cafe Nola in Frederick, Maryland. There I found a delicious dish, black bean burritos stuffed with coleslaw, spicy mayo, salsa, and avocado.
I had to recreate this bean burrito, so I could eat it whenever my heart desired, but I made it even better, easier, and cheaper.
Instead of black beans, I decided to use kidney beans, you could use pretty much any kind of bean.
How To Optimally Prepare Beans
Beans beans, the magically fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot…or something like that right?
Well there’s a way to get more beans with less toot 😉 Soak away the phytic acid.
Phytic acid makes legumes harder for your body digest, To remove it, you’ll want to soak them over night. All you have to do is cover the beans with water about 4 inches above the beans and let them soak. You’ll see all the acid in the water when you go to check on them in the morning. Just rinse it away.
Taking it even further, they say sprouted legumes are optimal for digestion and nutrient absorption. So after you soak your beans, rinse and drain them in a strainer approximately 2-4 times day, for about 2 days or until they start to sprout tails.
After the beans are sprouted, rinse them once more, and put them in the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours. You can cook them with spices, or you can leave them plain and add the spices later.
Once they are cooked, put them in clean mason jar and put the lid on while they’re still hot. This way the lid will seal tight allowing no air in, thus prolonging storage life, an allowing you to have bean burritos all through the week.
Lastly you’ll let the beans cool on the counter and stick them in the fridge until you’re ready to make burritos.
When ready, put the beans, with minimal bean water, in a sauce pan on low and let them heat up. Meanwhile mince the garlic, onion, and herbs. After the beans have warmed, I add in apple cider vinegar, garlic, onion, chili, chipotle, paprika, salt, and pepper; and mix it together, mashing the beans as you mix.
If it’s a hot day, or you’re making this for lunch to go, you really don’t even need to warm up the beans. Just mix in the spices, mash, and stuff em’ in the burrito, simple and delicious.
The Fixin’s
There’s two questions I ask myself when putting it together, “What do you like on your tacos or burritos and what do you have on-hand?” Add it!
Of course you could always use avocado and coleslaw like Cafe Nola to make it even better, but if you want something super simple, just stick to these basics.
Cashew Chipotle Sauce
The cashew chipotle sauce is really easy to make, I use cashew pieces, since they are normally cheaper, and make cashew flour in my small single serve ninja blender. Then you can add in your flavors; garlic, apple cider vinegar, water, chipotle, and salt and blend once more. That’s it.
To me a burrito wil never be the same without this spicy mayo, remix. Cafe Nola used veganaise instead of cashews, so that’s an option, with the same spices.
Salsa
This time around I used my favorite Farmer’s salsa, Nicole of Two Acre Farms, it’s Good! If I didn’t have her salsa, and I had some extra fresh tomatoes I would have made salsa fresca.
Fresh Herbs
I love all my herbs freshly minced and sprinkled over dishes, they are delicate and so most of their flavor is preserved when handled delicately.
This time I used fresh fennel and cilantro. Sometimes I add scallions, basil, lemongrass, mint, or whatever sounds good. Just a little bit goes a long way.
Assembly
To assemble, I put about a cup of beans on the wrap, a spoonful of salsa, a drizzle of chipotle sauce, and sprinkle the fresh herbs on top.
If you’re going to pack this for lunch, I would wrap it the right way. Steam the wrap a bit in the beans while they’re warming, add your stuffings, start to wrap , fold in the ends, and dab the wrap with water to seal. You can seal it even better by lightly frying it in a dab of coconut oil for about 30 seconds or until it’s sealed shut.
Enjoy!
Chipotle Bean Burritos
INGREDIENTS
- 4-5 burrito wraps
- 1.5 cups dried kidney beans; 4 cups cooked
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp paprika; powder
- 2 tbsp chili; powder
- 1 tbsp chipotle; powder
- 1 clove garlic; minced
- 1/4 cup red onion; minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Chipotle Cashew Sauce
- 1/2 cup cashew pieces
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp chipotle; powder
- 1/2 garlic clove
- pinch of salt
Fresh Herbs
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/8 cup fennel
- 1/4 cup scallions
INSTRUCTIONS
- Soak beans in water that's about 4 inches above the beans, overnight.
- Rinse and drain the beans in a strainer, about 2-4 times a day, and put it over a bowl to catch the drips.
- About 2 days later the beans will have sprouted little tails.
- Cook the beans on low in a slow cooker with the water about 4 inches above the beans. Cook for about 6 hours, or until the beans are soft to eat.
- While the beans are still hot, put them in a sterilized mason jar, and seal with a metal lid and band. Leave them on the counter to cool.
- Store in the fridge until ready to make burritos.
Chipotle Cashew Sauce
- Grind cashews into a flour.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
Assembly
- Heat up the beans on low in a sauce pan.
- Add in the rest of the bean ingredients, and stir, slightly mashing the beans.
- Add a little less than a cup of beans to a burrito wrap, drizzle on the cashew sauce, salsa, and a sprinkle of whatever fresh herbs you want.
NOTES
If you're packing a burrito for lunch, this dish is good with cold beans to, no need to reheat.
