IMG_1306

Last week’s pizza set me off on a tex-mex craze about a mile wide and three weeks long.

(And counting.)

The thing is that once you have a fiesta going on in your kitchen, you can’t just call it a night after one mojito!  Oh no no no.  You have to go for sixths.  Turn the music up.  Shake your bon bon.

Make fabulous adorable small talk with each and every one of the spices in your spice cabinet.  (And maybe even a few cookbooks.)

All in the name of practice.

IMG_1301

Practice for…huh?

Practice for when your boyfriend says to you, “hey, girlfriend, we are going to a wine and cheese party on Saturday night so that you can meet each and every one of my best friends!”

(See what I mean?  Sixth mojitos = crucial.  Partially because, well…

You need to build up that alcohol tolerance if you’re going to drink more than a half glass of wine without becoming a slurring mess.  And partially because rum and tequila are the best friends over-the-counter anxiolytics a girl could ask for in times like these.)

IMG_1309

After four days of stress eating munching on these majorly delicious burritos, slamming down tequila like it’s your job, and discussing the weather with your jar of cumin.  You’ll have this whole “meeting-the-friends” thing down.

(It’ll also help if the The.Boy.’s friends are so excellent and welcoming that they make this whole socializing thing effortless.  Really.  A lot.)

And, off the record, bribing them into liking you with chocolate in tart form also helps.  You just can’t dislike a girl who always brings dessert.  It’s pretty much a law in some states.

Maybe not.  But it should be.

IMG_1295

These burritos are perfect for those days when you’re really craving Tex-Mex but don’t want all the grease that usually comes along with it.  For more healthy delicious take-out at home recipes, check out these options from Cooking Light!

Vegetable and Rice Burritos with Quesadilla Cheese
Serves 4, adapted from Cooking Light May 2012

Ingredients

  • 4 tsp olive oil, divided
  • 1/3 cup uncooked basmati rice (or other long-grain white rice)
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic, divided
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp salt, divided
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 8 oz sliced porcini mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
  • 1 zucchini or summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
  • 5 oz greens (I used Earthbound Farms stir fry greens)
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 4 multi-grain tortillas
  • 4 oz quesadilla cheese, shredded

Instructions

  1. Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tsp canola oil to pan, swirling to coat.  Add the rice and 1/2 tsp garlic.  Saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add 2/3 cup water and 1/8 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and stir in the jalapeno.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the Greek yogurt, chopped cilantro, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.
  3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the pan, swirling to coat.  Add the onion and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the remaining 1/2 tsp garlic and mushrooms.  Saute for 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the corn and zucchini and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the greens and saute until wilted and tender.
  4. Add tomatoes and saute for 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated.  Season with salt to taste.  Remove the vegetable mixture from the pan and wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.
  5. Heat the tortillas according to the package directions.  Divide the Greek yogurt mixture evenly among the tortillas, spreading it into a thin layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Top each tortilla with 1 oz cheese, about 1/4 cup of the rice mixture, and 1/4 of the vegetable mixture.  Roll up each tortilla jelly-roll style and fold in the ends.
  6. Return the skillet to medium heat.  Add 2 burritos to the pan, seam side down, and cook 1 minute on each side or until browned.  Repeat procedure with remaining burritos.

This blog post has been promoted by Cooking Light!  For more healthy delicious recipes of theirs, click here.

IMG_1318

You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
blog_share_subscribe
Share →

93 Responses to Vegetable and Rice Burritos with Quesadilla Cheese

  1. What a great combo of veggies in these burritos! Love ’em all. And I completely agree that you can’t dislike the gal who brings desserts. 🙂

  2. Your burritos look so good – and I love all the wonderful vegetables you have used in them. They would be perfect with a mojito…or two 🙂

  3. Sam says:

    These look really good! I love all the veggies you packed into that burrito. A woman after my own heart.

    Meeting the friends is so stressful. I’m glad it went well. I’m still not good at hanging out with D’s friends. Mostly because they’re all cognitive and developmental psychology PhD students and like to talk about fMRIs and whether or not babies understand pointing a lot. Although alcohol really does help me to talk about these thing like I have even the slightest clue about any of them (and all of the PhD candidates to forget all the not so smart things I may have said…)

  4. SO glad things went well Saturday night… although I had no doubt that they would:-)

  5. Ha! I adored all of E’s friends from the start… but I also bribed them with tasty dinners. 😉

    This burrito looks magical… can I have one for breakfast?

  6. OohLookBel says:

    A girlfriend who brings choc tarts is definitely a keeper, although a plate of these delicious burritos would earn major points,too.

  7. Blond Duck says:

    Burritos are muy delicioso!

  8. Ah, the wonderful meet-the-friends night. Glad it was a success! I brought salad to my first “meet-the-friends” night. It was the Mexican Salad with the Creamy Avocado dressing on my website.. they still talk about it! Who says you can’t make friends with salad? 😉

    Glad things are going so well!

  9. Mary says:

    I have been on a major southwestern spicy food kick for a couple weeks now. These burritos sound delicious!

  10. Claudia says:

    Cooking Light has become my new best friend. I want each and every bite. Glad the eve turned out to be welcoming and splendid (no pressure). Chocolate tarts are great ice-breakers.

  11. SO glad to hear that “meeting the friends” went well! Although I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who didn’t like you 😉

    These burritos look amazing. I keep meaning to make burritos! This week for sure…

  12. Look at all those veggies! These are beautiful!!

  13. Amy says:

    My favorite part about this post is you writing “…your boyfriend says to you, ‘hey, girlfriend, we are going to a wine and cheese party'” – the boyfriend. The girlfriend. The cheese. The meeting of friends. This makes me ridiculously happy 😀

  14. Yum! I am such a Mexican Burrito freak it’s crazy! Have a few mojitos is good too!!! Girl, wish I wasn’t going out tonight because now I want Mexican!!

  15. Johanna GGG says:

    love your burritos – glad the social occasion went well – I can see why you were preparing ay old way – though I think I don’t need much of an excuse to make these burritos and you have just distracted me with all those great recipes from cooking light – thank you muchly for all the inspiration even if I am now late

  16. kelsey says:

    stop it right now with these. I want this in my belly tonight!

  17. Margarita says:

    Glad meeting with the friends went well! Who wouldn’t love you though? 🙂 love ALL the veggies going on here.

  18. Danielle says:

    I must have missed the new boyfriend post when I was out of town 😉 Im glad the meet and greet went well.

  19. Wow what a way to get in your veggies! I would eat this for any and all meals of the day 🙂

  20. Saguna says:

    Pshhh, who needs wine and cheese with YOUR tequila and texmex! I can pretty much smell this being all delicious and taunting me through the screen.

  21. Lynn says:

    The line about discussing the weather with your jar of cumin made me laugh out loud! I could just see it.

    This is a yummy looking dish. I might make this one one day this week. And I’m so glad the friends were nice.

  22. Catherine says:

    Dear Joanne, These look Fabulous!! I agree making Tex-Mex food gets very addicting, suddenly everything needs that extra “kick”. blessings dearest. Catherine xo

  23. I’m not usually a fan of burritos because they’re always so heavy on rice. These look much better, and much healthier!

  24. So glad meeting the friends went down well! Just like I’m sure this dish would right now 🙂

  25. Barbara says:

    A very yummy stuffing for your burritos, Joanne.
    Building up a tolerance for alcohol made me laugh! Must have been fun. But I’m certain the Boy’s friends won’t mind if you only have one glass of wine.
    And yes, chocolate tarts make friends where ever you take one.

  26. Gloria says:

    thes elook delicious Joanne!!

  27. I love how healthy these look. I don’t think I’d even need meat to find these delicious!

  28. MM says:

    Yum, yum, yum, Joanne! I’m on a tex-mex kick myself. I’d blame Rick Bayless and I Heart Cooking Clubs, but it started way before that. Can’t get enough and these burritos would hit the spot.

  29. Lora says:

    And I thought I was the only one who talked to my spices. Love these delicious flavorful burritos.

  30. What delicious and healthy burritos..
    I was telling my hubby I need some burritos in my life… Now I just know how I want them…
    Yum!!!

  31. These look sensational, Joanne. Who knew vegetarian could be so mouthwatering? Definitely sharing these with my veggie-only folks and going to try them for myself. Thanks for sharing!

  32. Pam says:

    It sounds pretty serious if he wants you to meet the best friends – WAHOO! I am super happy for you Joanne.

    I am also really, REALLY wishing I had all of these ingredients at my house right now so I could have this burrito for lunch. Yum!

  33. Eileen says:

    Meeting new people can definitely be intimidating–glad it went well! Those burritos look great as well–but what on earth is quesadilla cheese? If it’s solid enough to be shredded, maybe it’s something like monterey jack?

  34. Boyfriend! I am happy for you girl! His friends will LOVE you. I am sure of it 🙂

  35. no words! no words to express hoe badly i need those right now:)

  36. sweet road says:

    This looks like what I need right now! So many wonderful fillings!

  37. Now I seriously want some tequila, mexican dance music and a burrito. This could be an interesting night!

  38. tigerfish says:

    I also made some kind of tortilla-wrap last week but I don’t seem to be able to stuff it full as much as you did! :p Love all your veggie-fresh fillings.

  39. Mo 'Betta says:

    I’m suddenly craving a drink…and salsa. And a chocolate tart wouldn’t be turned down either. Sounds like things with The Boy are going well 🙂

  40. Your burrito’s look great and healthier, too! They’ll all love you, but a nice chocolate tart couldn’t hurt 🙂

  41. Guru Uru says:

    These burritos look so healthy yet cheesy and delicious – bookmarked 😀

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  42. What the heck is quesadilla cheese?? Like, cheddar? hahaha I read the whole post waiting for that part to be explained 🙂 Maybe I”m being dense. I’m often dense.

    • Joanne says:

      It’s actually a cheese that’s called “queso quesadilla”. I found it in my grocery store next to the queso fresco. You could just use mozzarella or provolone if you can’t find it.

  43. RJ says:

    hope things went well on saturday! 🙂

  44. Beth says:

    These look gorgeous! Looking forward to reading some of the other recipe ideas.

  45. Kim says:

    Like you, I could easily eat these everyday for lunch and not tire of them. They look delicious!

  46. Erica says:

    Wow! These look amazing…I love burritos and this is a delicious and healthy variation!

  47. Karen says:

    That burrito looks as good as any I’ve ever eaten!

  48. Dining Alone says:

    Burritos are almost always good, but these look amazing! I love guilt free burritos!

  49. Megan says:

    “You just can’t dislike a girl who always brings dessert.” Definitely my motto! And those burritos sound pretty amazing… I bet those would be good for bribing new friends too. 🙂 Everyone is going to love you!

  50. daphne says:

    ooo.. he is the boyfriend now! exciting 😉
    Love how you made a burrito so exciting and that it is filled with GOOD stuff!!!! More the better!

  51. Reeni says:

    I never saw a burrito packed with so many veggies! Lovely. And you have absolutely nothing to worry about – we all love you and they will too! It’s a given.

  52. These burritos are very nice. A great robust recipe with the yoghurt, mushrooms and cheese.

  53. Candace says:

    Oh, yes! I see these burritos in my future. These look soooo good!

  54. My kind of burrito (one filled with veggies). That looks so delicious!

  55. Oh my gosh, you make those veggies look amazing! Great photos! Nice work with the chocolate tart 🙂

  56. Marcia says:

    okay, yum yum yum. I love it when you can make food healthy. LOVE my veggies!

  57. I love how they are choke full of veggies!! I’m bookmarking it!

  58. vianney says:

    The boyfriend’s friends… I bet they LOVED you!! these burritos would rock any Texan’s world !!

  59. geni says:

    Why do you think i always bring dessert Joanne? 😉 These veggie burritos look incredible and definitely would lend itself to having a personal affair with Latin flavors. Yum.

  60. Natalie says:

    I’ve never heard of quesadilla cheese but I’m intrigued by it and everything else in this delicious-looking burrito! I keep meaning to make healthy burritos to freeze and take for lunches during the week but always forget – thanks for the reminder!

  61. Dude, these burritos are freaking packed! You wouldn’t even know that the meat isn’t there! Well done.

    And I’ll join you on those six mojitos. I can’t even handle half a glass of champagne these days!

  62. Jenn Kendall says:

    oh wow these look fantastic, i’m totally making these for lunches this week!

  63. beti says:

    I love how you can turn something unhealthy into a healthy thing, it looks great!

  64. That is a fine looking burito! Does this tart have anything to do with the “there is chocolate in every corner of my kitchen” tweet? Then the boy has lucky friends!

  65. sophia says:

    whoa, that’s a lot of greens packed into a wrap! With the bulkiness of the greens, though, I think I would personally prefer it on top of grains.
    Haha Joanne, you don’t need to bribe anyone to like you. I already do! But yes to chocolate and dessert, of course. 😉

  66. I can’t tell if the meet-up with the. boy’s. friends already happened or is still to come, but I hope it went/goes well for you! These burritos sound so good and I have some quesadilla cheese-perfect timing. 🙂

  67. Sanjeeta kk says:

    I can’t stop myself from telling again and again that you are the Queen of veggies, Joanne..love the burrito!!

  68. Yum to these burritos! So did you meet them already or is it this weekend?

  69. Deborah says:

    I have pancakes on the stove cooking, but all of a sudden, all I want is a burrito. There’s nothing wrong with that, right??

  70. Anonymous says:

    I made this recipe after seeing it in cooking light- and have made it two mor times since! So good!

  71. That Girl says:

    I’ve never heard of quesadilla cheese- I’ll have to look for it!

  72. Jenna says:

    Your recipe looks great, and I’m so thrilled that things with The.Boy. are going well and that his friends were awesomely awesome! Woohoo!

  73. Kristen says:

    Oh my gosh these look awesome! I’m glad everything went so well meeting The Boyfriend’s friends 🙂 Yay!

  74. Patsyk says:

    I am totally making these! I’m sure that when you arrive with dessert, that anyone there will be YOUR new BFF! I know I would be!

  75. Carolyn Jung says:

    Now, that’s a monster burrito — without the guilt. I could easily dive into one of these for lunch any day of the week. Yum!

  76. Katie says:

    Ooh, I should go for burritos like these more often. I tend to like the really unhealthy tex-mex food, so this would be a great alternative!

  77. Epicurea says:

    good mexican food is a rarity over here unfortunately, so good plus light recipes like this are a real treat :-)!

  78. Kalyn says:

    I think I could be a vegetarian if you promised to cook for me every day!

  79. grace says:

    those things are PACKED! and with good stuff, too! your tortillas look particularly tasty–so wheaty and nutritious. 🙂

  80. What an incredible looking burrito! I’m SO craving burritos now. They are the one food I almost always say “who needs the meat?”. With all those delicious fillings, really, who needs it?!

  81. elly says:

    These looks so fresh and perfect. I am so excited by all the awesome produce that’s starting to show up and am definitely planning on making more than our standard 1-2 veg meals per week.

  82. it’s calling my name.. it’s been awhile since my last tex-mex meal and gahhh your photos are killing me!!!
    sorry for being MIA… being away for 6 weeks makes me so out of the loop hehe.
    Have a good day!
    malou

  83. Shannon says:

    haha, glad the meeting of the friends went well 🙂 dessert is never wrong!! neither are these burritos… yum!

  84. Dana says:

    This is so dumb but I never make burritos. Everyone in my family likes them – why don’t I make them? BUT. I have to say that, while these look truly terrific, this is why I don’t subscribe to Cooking Light. Ingredients list a mile long. This is not a criticism of you ( you know I love you), but of the recipe. I can’t wait to talk in person about the boy!

  85. Chris says:

    I happen to know that cumin HATES humid weather. He told me so.

    These veggie burritos look rocking, Joanne. I would eat these and maybe not even notice there was no beef 🙂

  86. These look delicious and healthy–a perfect combination. Of course meeting the friends went well–how could anyone not adore you silly! 😉

  87. Tessa says:

    These look amazing. Not missing the cheese and grease loaded burritos at all! Glad meeting the friends went well!

  88. skye says:

    I am making this tomorrow night – but we do not use canola oil here to cook – we only use coconut oil or olive oil. Do you think I could do the rice in coconut oil instead of canola? Has anyone else mentioned trying this? thanks!

  89. Ezgi says:

    Just made this, it was super delicious and amazingly spicy. I sautéed the jalapeño with the rest of the vegetables and everything was coated with the hot spiciness. So light and so filling. Thank you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *