Turkey and Brown Rice Burritos

For some reason, I've never made burritos at home before, only at work. With so much leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer, this was an opportunity to treat the family to some home made burritos.

As well as the turkey, I used the opportunity to use up some more of the brown basmati rice that no one but me likes. I'm slowly working my way through it...I added the half cup of Basic Tomato Sauce and some tomato paste that I found in the fridge, and along with some spices, ended up with a moist and flavourful filling.

Using a drizzle of olive oil, cook until softened:

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced

Add the spices:

2 tablespoons chili powder
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chilli powder

After the spices have cooked for a couple of minutes, add:

1/2 cup Basic Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste

Stir in:

4 cups diced, cooked turkey

Add about 1/2 cup of warm water, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid, and keeping the heat at a simmer, stir in:

1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
3/4 cup frozen corn

Allow the filling to simmer until most of the remaining liquid has reduced away.

Remove the filling from the heat, and stir in:

1 cup cooked brown basmati rice








Now that the filling is ready, grate about 2 cups of white cheddar. Get an ovenproof dish ready, and have some 10" tortillas ready to fill and roll. Heat the oven to 350F.

In the centre of each tortilla place:

2/3 cup of the meat filling
White cheddar

To roll the burrito, fold the sides in over the filling and then fold the side closest to you over the filling.

Roll it up carefully, keeping it as tight as possible without tearing the tortilla.

Place the burritos seam side down in your dish.





Loosely cover the dish and the burritos with a piece of foil. Place in the oven and bake until the filling is heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 5 -10 minutes, to crisp the tortillas up a bit.

Serve, accompanied by sour cream, diced avocado and extra cheese.

• Any type of rice will be fine in this recipe; as I mentioned I have some brown basmati rice that no one seems to like, so I used that. If you have leftover cooked rice, that is even better...it saves a step and also makes space in your fridge.
• The rice can be eliminated. It makes the burritos a bit more filling, and also helps to absorb any extra liquid that would make the tortillas soggy.
• Add beans...black, red or white kidney, navy or romano. I was on a use up binge, and didn't want to open a can only to use half and add something else to the freezer when I'm trying to empty it out.b
• As I mentioned, this was a way to use up some of the Thanksgiving turkey. Leftover chicken, beef or pork can be used instead. If you are cooking meat just for this, use ground beef, chicken or turkey. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are also a good choice, as they cook quickly, have a lot of flavour and don't dry out as easily as chicken breast does. There is also no reason why fish can't be used...firm fleshed fish such as red snapper, cod or salmon are good choices.
• The Basic Tomato Sauce added moisture and flavour, but it can be omitted. Use extra water, to add the moisture. Chicken stock can be also be used to add another layer of flavour.
• If you have sweet red peppers, jalapeno peppers or chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, add those to the filling.
• Herbs such as cilantro, parsley, oregano can be added. The spices can also be adjusted to suit your heat preference. The ancho chili powder added a distinct smokiness as well as some heat.
• I used white cheddar, however orange cheddar, jalapeno jack, queso fresco or manchego can be used. Smoked white cheddar would also be a nice addition.
• The burritos can be assembled the day before they are baked. They can also be assembled and frozen.