Catfish Out of Water

If you want to debate the merits of an Ethiopian lentil burrito? I have already done that! In the previous iteration of this burrito. Now that we've gotten that out of the way and you trust me that the two flavor profiles are indeed compatible, it's time to start experimenting. One of my favorite things to do with burritos in the morning is to cook up a runny egg and make a good old fashioned breakfast burrito! Well, a good new modern Ethiopian breakfast burrito. But you get the point!

This burrito contains Ethiopian-inspired black lentils and sautéed spinach. These are both quick and easy meals to prepare ahead of time. Lentils take 45 minutes in a rice cooker. Truly nothing could be simpler than dropping a couple of ingredients in a pot and pressing start. Likewise, sautéed spinach is a great way to keep spinach. I keep buying it in bulk and really need a way to keep it fresh and not worry about it going to waste. Toss a couple of pounds in a skillet and there you go! I like to purée mine because I don't like the stringiness of cooked spinach. But that's entirely optional. It doesn't have to be as much of a paste as I've made here. You can also roughly chop it to get a consistency in between the two.

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Variations of Ethiopian Breakfast Burrito

There are plenty of things that you can make with a breakfast burrito. There's something about a perfectly fried runny egg wrapped in a tortilla that I can't get enough of! Feel free to add in your own flavor profile. I'm constantly putting all of my leftovers in a burrito. It's a simple and easy way to use what you already have. And incredibly delicious.

Burrito w/ Black Lentils, Avocados, & Runny Egg

This Ethiopian breakfast burrito combines black lentils and sautéed spinach with a runny egg in a quick and easy burrito fusion. It's the perfect way to start the day and one of my favorite things to get the morning going! There's nothing better than waking up and throwing together a burrito in no time at all. It's also keeping the egg theme that I have going this week. I initially made the lentils with a kind of Doro Wat in mind. But short of hard boilling eggs in the lentil dish? This works as a great substitute!

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Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine Ethiopian, Mexican

Servings 1 serving

Equipment

• Skillet w/ Lid (Preferably Cast Iron)
• Stovetop

Ingredients

  

Black Lentils

• 1/2 tsp. turmeric fresh
• 1 tsp. ginger fresh
• 3 cloves garlic
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 red onion
• dash cloves whole
• dash cumin whole
• dash fenugreek whole
• dash coriander
• dash allspice
• dash paprika
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 1 ¼ c. black lentils
• 3 c. water

Tzatziki

• 1/2 English cucumber (or 1 smaller cucumber), grated
• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 c. Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• tbsp. salt

Burrito

• 1/3 c. black lentils
• dollop tzatziki (optional, omit or substitute for vegan recipe)
• 1 tbsp. avocado sliced
• 1 tortilla shell
• splash water
• 1 egg
• splash olive oil
• dollop hot sauce of choice (optional)

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• Prepare Lentils w/ Ginger & Turmeric. This takes less than an hour and requires a rice cooker or stove. You can also easily create a different flavor profile or utilize the produce that you have on hand. I almost always keep a batch of quinoa in the fridge for exactly this purpose.
• I also used Tzatziki w/ English Cucumbers in this recipe. This takes about 15 minutes and requires a fine cheese grater.

Cook Tortilla

• Preheat the pan on medium-high. If you aren't using cast iron, make sure to lightly oil the pan to prevent sticking.
• Wet both sides of the tortilla and add to the preheated pan. Cook for 4-6 minutes, or until the bottom begins to brown.
• Remove the tortilla from heat and turn the stove off. Add toppings and fold the burrito. Wrap it slightly less tightly than you ordinarily would in order to leave room for the egg later on.

  We're also intentionally holding off on the egg! It will need to be cooked after the tortilla is prepared so that the egg doesn't completely set and remains runny.
• Turn the stove back up to medium and add the tortilla to the skillet immediately, before it preheats. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until the bottom begins to brown. Rotate until all sides are cooked.

  The first side will likely take longer to cook than the subsequent sides, which may toast in as little as 2 minutes. Adjust the temperature if it's cooking too quickly and burning or too slowly and cracking.
• Remove from heat and set aside. It's best to cover so that it doesn't cool off to quickly. But this isn't entirely necessary.

Cook Eggs

• Leave the skillet on medium heat and add oil.

  I use a pretty well seasoned cast iron pan to cook eggs, so I don't add any more than a spritz of oil. You may need upwards of a teaspoon for other types of pans, though. Use just enough so that your eggs don't stick!
• Crack egg into the pan.

  It should be hot enough that the egg sizzles, but doesn't deep fry or brown immediately.
• Let cook until golden brown on the bottom and you can flip the egg with ease. The whites should be fairly set on both sides, but not completely cooked.

  You want to cook this relatively quickly so that the egg yolk doesn't set, though. It should take about a minute or two. Turn the heat up if the egg whites don't cook quickly enough or down if the egg yolk starts to cook. Also immediately flip if this happens!
• Flip and turn off the stove. Cook for another 30 seconds, or until the egg white is completely cooked. It should already be mostly set and this should take no time at all!

Complete Burrito

• Carefully unwrap the burrito slightly and place the egg inside. Rewrap the burrito and squeeze slightly so that the egg begins to run.

  You don't have to break the yolk, but it will continue to cook inside of the warm burrito shell. So, if you don't, you might not get that runny egg! This will also be kind of messy and I recommend eating over a plate or wrapped in parchment paper or food storage wraps. I have a set of reusable beeswax wraps for this.
• Top with tzatziki and hot sauce of choice. Omit or substitute with a vegan alternative for an entirely animal-product free recipe.
• Serve immediately. Before the egg cooks!

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• For a more in-depth article on burritos, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Making Burritos. I highly suggest using cast iron and there is precise temperature that works best for cooking at that may vary slightly depending on your stovetop and type of skillet. If you're having trouble rolling the burrito without cracking, there are solutions for this as well!