Recipe
Baby stuff will come, I promise, but for now, a recipe. 
It’s no coincidence last week’s menu was full of Chipotle-influenced Mexican foods- cilantro lime rice, homemade salsa, roasted corn salsa, chipotle-marinated tofu…
I had an ulterior motive. Chipotle burritos. At home.
Mission accomplished.
The key is starting with a big, pliable flour tortilla. Yes, that means I used a regular ol’ flour tortilla. No whole wheat here. {But hey, I went with brown rice, so it’s all good.}
Lightly warm the tortilla so it’s nice and flexible.
Then pile on the cilantro lime rice. {See Chipotle copycat rice recipe here.}
Followed by black beans mixed with a little bit of cumin.
Then a scoop of chipotle-marinated tofu or chicken.
Next up, some red hot homemade salsa roja…
…and a scoop of roasted poblano corn salsa for good measure.
Now that’s a burrito.
Gently fold in the edges, then roll the sides up. Tuck the open flap on the bottom.
Garnish with cilantro, and dig in.
Feel free to add sour cream or cheese or anything else you normally like on your burrito too.
Enough burritos. Back to my little bundle. 
If you like this, try it with some Moe’s Queso Blanco!
Recipe
What? Some of you don’t like tomatoes? Blasphemy.
Oh, right. I’m one of them. Hence the cooked salsa. Cooked tomatoes I can do. Raw? No thanks.
So sometimes a non tomato based salsa is just what you need.
Since I already had Chipotle’s rice on the brain, this seemed like the perfect salsa to add to the repertoire: roasted corn salsa.
Mild poblano peppers; plump juicy corn; the bite of red onion & cilantro; the tang of lime juice…who needs those silly tomatoes?
You can certainly skip the roasting step, but it’s worth the extra few minutes; it’s really what gives this corn salsa a real bang.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: appetizer snack vegetarian vegan Mexican Southwest
- 2 cups sweet yellow corn kernels
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded
- 1 small red onion, chopped {~1/4 cup}
- 2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- Squirt of lime juice
Mix corn, pepper, and onion together.
Spread on baking sheet and place under broiler for ~10 minutes. Cooking time will varying based on stove- keep an eye on it and remove when just starts to brown.
Stir in cilantro and lime juice.
Let cool before serving.
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What are your favorite non-tomato salsa flavors?
PS. There’s a new Nasoya tofu giveaway winner…is it you?!
Recipe
Do you know what one of the most requested fast food copycat recipes is?
Chipotle rice.
That yummy, fluffy, white rice loaded with rich Mexican flavors of lime and cilantro.
Luckily, it’s probably the easiest fast food recipe to replicate- and not so bad on the health scale either, especially if you swap in brown rice.
First you have to know how to cook rice to give it that great restaurant quality texture. This isn’t the time time for instant, 5 minute, or boil-in-bag rice. It’s time for the real deal. I promise it’s worth it.
The traditional method to cook rice is to match the liquid to rice ratio of 2-1.5 to 1; bring to a boil; then simmer until the water is absorbed, often up to an hour.
It works fine, but you often end up with wet, heavy, gummy rice. No way you’re matching Chipotle’s style with that.
Instead, try this:
How to Cook Fluffy Rice {without a rice cooker}
It’s as easy as spaghetti! Bring a pot of water to boil. Add desired rice quantity. Boil uncovered for 40 minutes. Drain rice {just enough to get rid of excess water- don’t try to completely drain.} So far it’s just like cooking pasta.
Put rice back in pot and cover. Let sit off the heat for 10 minutes. The final 10 minutes allows the rice to steam in the remaining moisture. When it’s done, you’ll have fluffy, light, airy, rice- even when making the traditionally heavier brown rice. Easy!
Now that you know how to cook rice perfectly, let’s make it Chipotle style. Like I said, beyond easy.
I like to use brown basmati rice for this recipe, but if you must, go ahead and use white basmati rice.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: entree side vegan vegetarian Southwest Mexican
- 1 cup cooked brown basmati rice
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/8 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together and serve.
See above for the best method of how to cook brown basmati rice.
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P.S. The winner of the Nasoya tofu giveaway is….
Email your info so you can get your prize!
Also, don’t miss my 36 week pregnancy update on tiny sneakers!
