Chicken Burrito and more!

This chicken and rice mix is a great base for burritos. It’s also good in stuffed vegetables, as a soup base, or even on its own. The method may seem a little unusual, but it’s to keep it low-fat. On the UK Government’s ‘traffic light’ labelling system, it’s green in all categories. It also has good protein levels, based on calculations, of 13.5 g per 100 g.

It makes over 2 kg. The 30 cm (12-inch) wraps that I use (Mission XL from Ocado, Morrisons or ASDA) hold 250 – 300 g – you may need more; I’m not that good at packing the filling in! Medium-sized peppers use about 150 g each. If you’re using it for multiple purposes, you might want to omit the cumin and spice it differently for each use.

It’s good to cook and freeze in portions.

Ingredients

1 kg Chicken breast, diced small, or chicken mince
225 g brown long-grain rice, about 500 g cooked.
500 g Black beans (2 x 400g tins), drained
1 Onion, chopped fine
2 Garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 Red pepper, chopped
150 g Sweetcorn kernels – I used frozen
2 tsp Paprika, ground
1 tsp Cumin, ground
½ tsp Oregano, dried
4 Tbsp Parsley, fresh, chopped
2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Method

Firstly, cook your raw rice in plenty of salted water – about ½ an hour for brown rice. Drain and add the drained black beans.
In a saucepan, add 1 Tbsp EVOO and sauté the onion and the chicken; after a few minutes, add the red pepper. Cook for 5 minutes and add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes more, then cover with water and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. Drain it and keep the liquid/stock to make soup.
In a separate pan, sauté the tomato puree, cumin and paprika, taking care not to burn them. Add the rice and beans along with the oregano and mix well.
Add the chicken and veg mix to the rice, add the chopped parsley and mix again.

Roll it in a wrap for a burrito.