Friday, December 30, 2011

Best of 2011: #2 Burrito in the Buff

As 2011 comes to a close, I continue my review of the top 10 posts of the year.

Please be sure to participate in the poll on the right sidebar if you haven't yet. 

The number two most viewed post of 2011 was Burrito in the Buff on April 12, 2011.


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(Click on photos to enlarge; all (c) 2011, Kathy Fannon)

I didn't want to call this a naked burrito, lest I trample on somebody's copyright, so I'll call it "Burrito in the Buff". (Because there's no tortilla shell.)

From start (pouring water to start the rice) to finish (putting it all together on the plate) took a little more than 45 minutes. It may have even gone quicker if I wasn't trying to take these amazing photos to share with you. (Where's an emoticon when ya need one? Insert *wink* here!) Point is, it's fairly quick and very easy to put together, it's healthy because it's homemade and it tastes WONDERFUL!

The first thing I did was start the rice because it takes the longest to cook (45 minutes).

Once the rice was cooking, I got the chicken cleaned and in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

While the chicken was baking I chopped some cilantro. I used about 30 stems (leaves only). The chopped cilantro went into the pot of rice toward the end of cooking, along with the juice of 1/2 lime. 

(I bought 2 limes to use for Burritos in the Buff.)


I sliced my avocado and pitted it. See how my knife is resting in the pit? Carefully whack it and give it a turn and the pit comes right out.


I mashed the avocado with some Pink Himalayan sea salt and a squeeze of lime juice to keep it from turning brown.


Plain Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream (much healthier and tastes about the same)
Mozzarella cheese (because my men like it)
Store bought salsa

Normally I prefer to make my own salsa, but this dinner was a last minute idea, so I bought the fresh stuff.

To make your own salsa: Roma tomatoes (seeded, chopped), onion (chopped), cilantro (chopped), juice of one lime, salt and optional garlic (It's best when it sits overnight)

I had also gotten corn but forgot to make it. Oops! So that would be a yummy topping with the salsa as well.


Baked chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, Fajitas seasoning and fresh squeezed lime juice. (Add the lime juice when the chicken comes out of the oven.)


I use these organic tortilla chips that don't use genetically modified corn. When you buy tortilla chips be sure they don't contain partially hydrogenated oils.


It's very hard to find a can of beans that don't have salt (or sugar) added, but Kuner's brand doesn't, and I like that. Be sure to heat the beans!


Rice with cilantro and lime juice. Really, the rice would've been better if I had done it an hour or more ahead. It reheats really well and eating fresh cooked rice right away tends to be stickier. But it was still delicious!


I chopped about half a chicken breast for each burrito. (I actually made one more cut in this piece before making a burrito for my son.)

To put the burrito together, layer: rice, beans, chicken, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese. Serve with the tortilla chips and more salsa, yogurt and avocado for dipping if you'd like, but be careful not to eat too much! (We prefer to use the chips as a fork!)

Does anybody need me to type this out in a more conventional recipe form? I'd be happy to, but this is pretty much what I did and how I did it. Easy!

Read my next post: Best of 2011: #1 What Is It