Whole Wheat Berry Burritos

Lydia:  What's for dinner, Mom? (Then that look of horror starts on her face--you know, that look.)  It's not food storage, is it?
Mom:  What makes you say that, Lydia?
Lydia:  Well, you have your laptop open to your blog, so I thought it might be food storage.
Mom:  We have to try out new recipes with food storage now.  What are you going to do when you have children who fuss about food storage for dinner?
Lydia:  I'm going to have perfect children.



I am always on the lookout for new recipes that can be adapted to use food storage items and that can be pretty easily prepared.  But you know, finding such recipes is kinda like walking through a cow pasture; you've got to be really careful or you could end up in a big mess.  And if you made it for dinner, then all the kids will know and will never ever let you forget if it was awful.  It would be easier to step in a cowpie.

Trying out new food storage recipes is not for the faint of heart.  And I'm happy to report I've got another winner here.  Give it a try for your family.  It's very kid-friendly.  The way the recipe was originally written would take forever to prepare.  I fixed that.  There's no way I'm soaking beans the night before and then cooking them all day.  Too much time, too much fuel.

Now, I'll concede that some people will find making tortillas by hand to be a bit time-consuming.  But if you're only making enough for fresh eating for dinner, you won't need that many.  And you can always tell the over-ten crowd that they need to roll their own if necessary.  The wheat and bean filling comes together very quickly.

Whole Wheat Berry Burritos
1 pint (15 oz can) pinto beans, drained
2/3 cup cooked rice
2/3 cup cooked whole wheat berries
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons dehydrated diced green chilies
1/4 cup SOS mix
1 cup water
3/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon

Rehydrate dehydrated green chilies in 1/2 cup hot water; set aside.   In a medium bowl, combine beans, rice, wheat berries, and spices.  Mix well and set aside.  Prepare sauce by putting SOS mix and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add chicken bouillon, if desired.  Stir continuously until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Stir in bean mixture and return pan to heat.  Warm thoroughly.  Spoon 1/4-1/3 cup of bean filling into the center of each tortilla. Fold two opposite ends in slightly to close, and then roll the opposite sides over the filling.  Garnish and serve with shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and/or cilantro.

Comments:  OK, as I was preparing the SOS sauce for this (the original recipe called for a can of cream of chicken soup), and contemplating adding it to the bean mix, I honestly thought it was going to be kinda gross.  I held out some of the bean mix just in case because I thought that mix looked pretty good already.   Anyway, the bean mix and sauce together were surprisingly good.  Lydia, the only child at home tonight, really liked it.  (Surprised she admitted to it after saying such disparaging things about food storage just an hour earlier.) 

Links to related posts:
Wheat
How To Pressure Can Beans
SOS Mix
DIY Chicken Bouillon
Salsa   

5.5.23