I made Quinoa Salad w/ Black Beans, Tomatoes, & Corn the other day. I ended up converting most of the leftovers into Bean Dip w/ Fresh Mozzarella, Quinoa, Black Beans, & Corn. Although, before I did, I made a few Black Beans Burritos. These are a surprisingly conventional burrito for me. I'm usually taking all sorts of disparate ingredients and tossing them into a burrito form! They're one of those foods that just about universally works with absolutely anything and everything.
I'm constantly taking whatever I have in my refrigerator, lightly toasting a tortilla, and calling it a good day. Which means that I do end up with quite a bit of odd burritos. Although this one with quinoa and black beans really isn't that far fetched. There are plenty of people getting in on the "quinoa is. a superfood" trend. I don't remember the first time that I heard that word. But yes, eating things that are actually food is generally considered a good idea. So, if it gets people to add quinoa and blueberries to their diet? I'm all on board.
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Variations of Black Beans Burrito
Black beans and quinoa in burritos is one of my more conventional dishes. There's something to be said for a classic, though. And I'm quite fond of putting black beans into burritos. Every now and then you'll catch me with pinto beans. Although, after so many years of being a vegan or vegetarian and not being able to eat pinto beans because they often contain pork fat in them? Black beans certainly hold a great deal of nostalgia. When making your own pinto beans, though, you can absolutely add in and omit whatever you want. I still tend to make a lot more black bean burritos than I do pinto beans. They also tend to be a better price in bulk. Although that likely varies from location to location.
Quinoa Salad w/ Black Beans, Tomatoes, & Corn takes about 4 hours to cook. It's a largely hands off recipe. So, it's a good quick and easy recipe to start ahead of time and reheat later on.
I also topped this burrito with Potluck Avocado Dip w/ Greek Yogurt & Serranos. This is entirely optional. You can easily substitute sour cream or omit it entirely for a more vegan recipe. Although this avocado dip is my new favorite thing and I highly recommend giving it a try. It's kind of a mix between hummus and guacamole. And is absolutely delicious!
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.
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.
Top with avocado dip and hot sauce of choice. I like to use Greek yogurt because it's oftentimes healthier than sour cream and this new avocado dip that I'm obsessed with is fantastic. Omit or substitute with a vegan alternative for an entirely animal-product free recipe.
Serve immediately. You can reheat burritos by lightly wetting them and reheating, but they are never quite the same as they are fresh!
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!
This Page Contains Edited Images
As a general rule, I don't like to edit my images and I am firmly against alteration of images in food blogs. It's not something that we generally think about when it comes to recipes. But food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm as anything else! Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes.
Because of this, I try very hard not to alter any of my photos. I like to take photos with natural sunlight during the day. Ordinarily this is very true to color and I don't edit the photos at all. However, since my place is very warm with a lot of yellow lighting, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural blue tone. In the following images on this page, I adjusted the levels and hue to try and make this more true to color. In the interest of transparency, these are the before and after photos.
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