Chicken burrito bowl

Do you ever look at one ingredient, and the rest of your dish goes from there? It doesn’t even have to be a main ingredient, sometimes it is a herb, spice, or something random like bamboo shoots. I get a bit of a craving for it and then off I go.

I bought a coriander plant last week – I know it is a bit polarising, with a lot of people who don’t like it (especially on Sunday Brunch, it seems) but I love it. And it pairs perfectly with one of my other favourite foods – avocado. Those were the inspiration for my latest Mexican (ok, Tex Mex) dish. That and my new Wahaca cookbook, which is lovely to leaf through! I have added quite a few cookbooks to my collection over lockdown – last week I bought ‘Mexican Food Made Simple’ by Thomasina Meirs to expand my Mexican recipe repertoire beyond Tex Mex, the Dishoom cookbook because of those Gunpowder potatoes, and the Ice Kitchen, because I intend to do loads of batch cooking to prep for baby’s arrival! At this point I’m not sure whether the freezer will arrive first, or the baby, which is a slight flaw in my plan. Fingers crossed! Anyway, I digress. Back to my Tex Mex bowl.

I had some leftover roast chicken, and some trusty peppers, mushrooms and onions. I also had some tortillas that needed using up, so figured I’d make my own chips – healthier than the shop bought version, even if not quite as satisfying.

The result is pretty healthy, depending on how much sour cream and cheese you pile on, but feels like a treat! Again this is a very easy recipe to swap things in and out of, depending on what you like/have/dislike. I love sweetcorn so included it in my bowl, but S hates it so he just got more veggies! Swaps listed at the end… Enjoy!

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Chicken burrito bowl – serves 2

Ingredients

• 200g leftover roast chicken, or if using raw, 2 chicken breasts, or 4 thighs – chopped
• 150g brown rice
• 1 pepper, chopped
• handful of mushrooms, chopped
• half an onion, chopped
• handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tsp fajita spice mix (make your own here) and / or chipotle paste (I use both as I like quite a kick)

Extras: choose as many of these as you like!

• 1 avocado, halved and sliced
• Handful of coriander
• Sweetcorn
• Cheddar cheese, grated – as much as you fancy!
• Sour cream – 2 tbsp
• 2 tortillas
• Olive oil, salt

Method

• Start off by cooking the rice according to packet instructions
• Pre-heat your oven to 180 fan. Baste your tortillas with a little olive oil and salt, and cut into triangle shapes (cut in half, then each half into 4s). Lay them flat on a baking tray, and bake for 7 minutes until golden brown (keep an eye on them as oven temps vary a lot!). Remove and leave to cool – they will crisp up!
• Next for your chicken. If you are using raw, then start off with some oil in a pan on a medium heat, and brown off your chicken pieces. Remove from the pan.
• Whether raw or cooked, the method is the same now – gently fry the onion first, then add the pepper and mushrooms. Once these have softened, add the chicken, and 2 tsp fajita spice mix. Stir so the juices are all absorbed. Next add the chipotle paste – around 1 tsp. If you are not using the fajita spice mix, then use more chipotle paste. Stir until evenly distributed, and add in your cherry tomatoes. 
• Time to build your burrito bowl! Pop the rice in first, then your chicken and veg mix. Add your extras around the bowl. As you can see from the picture, I went for sweetcorn, sour cream, avocado, coriander and a sprinkling of cheese in the middle, with a few crispy tortillas to finish. 
• YUM!

Swaps and alternatives

• Chicken: steak strips would work well here, as would beef mince, turkey mince, roast pork etc. Endless options, just adjust cooking times.
• Go veggie: use some butternut squash or sweet potato, maybe adding some refried black beans for a protein kick!
• Cheddar: you could use feta here instead. Ideal would be queso fresco but I have never found it here, even pre lockdown!
• The veg can be varied/swapped in or out although I got into trouble with S for putting broccoli in fajitas once. Apparently that is absolute sacrilege 🙂 But courgettes would work well for example!
• Tomatoes: if you don’t have fresh, then half a tin would work well. I wouldn’t leave out altogether though as it does keep the whole mixture nice and moist
• Sour cream: swap for greek or natural yoghurt, or creme fraiche
• Brown rice – any type of rice would do, or you could go for quinoa, or sweet potato (roast in oven in cubes, or whole in oven or microwave)

An Indian feast

My friend Mel has been cooking through the Dishoom cookbook with her hubby, and discovered their ‘Gunpowder potatoes’. They aren’t the simplest as you need a very particular spice mix, which arrived in the post a few days after Mel had told me about them… I was very grateful and keen to try! I haven’t included that recipe here as it really is quite elaborate, and ingredients aren’t particularly easy to get hold of these days. However, I often get inspired by a single ingredient or dish, and it was definitely the case this weekend. I decided I would make a bit of an Indian feast. I have quite a few curry dishes I am fond of making – saag paneer, or a simple chicken curry with loads of veggies thrown in. I occasionally make my own paste but usually rely on Patak’s!

However, seeing as I have so much time these days, I decided to experiment, and decided to make lamb samosas, red lentil dhal, Mel/Dishoom’s gunpowder potatoes, and tandoori paneer with veggies. Some real discoveries in those recipes, and ones I would definitely do again! I am just going to go through the samosas here as I just followed existing recipes for the others – but I can’t recommend them highly enough.

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Red lentil dhal – super healthy, quick and tasty. And vegan, as it is made with coconut milk. I know there are a million dhal recipes out there, but this was the first time I’d given it a go, and I was really pleased. Give me a bowl of this and a naan bread any day…

Mel / Dishoom’s Gunpowder potatoes – I didn’t have the coriander or fresh green chillies, and used lemon instead of lime – but these were a total delight! And also reasonably healthy. The kebab masala is what Mel sent me in the post, recipe here.

Paneer and veg tandoori-ish – This was super simple. I cubed 250g paneer and my veg (1 onion, 1 pepper and 1 courgette), and then mixed them through with 2 tbsp greek yoghurt (any plain yoghurt will do) and 2 tablespoons of curry paste (good old Patak – I used Korma paste but any will do). I left it to marinade for a couple of hours, and then put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 180. Simple, very flexible (you could use any veg, and could swap the paneer for chicken if you fancy, or make it more substantial with butternut squash or sweet potato – just adjust the cooking time).

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Before and after – my sort of tandoori paneer with veggies

And last but not least – my favourite part of the feast – lamb samosas! Loosely based on a recipe I found on BBC Good Food, but with a few adaptations. I will admit they didn’t look very pretty as my samosa folding skills aren’t up to much, but they tasted amazing. In fact, the lamb mix could easily be eaten on its own with some rice or a naan bread. Here goes. And my apologies to any Indian cooks out there who will probably be horrified at this adaptation!

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Lamb samosas – serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g lamb mince
• 2 tbsp curry paste – I used Patak’s Korma, but if you prefer more of a kick, go for one of the spicier ones. 
• 1 carrot
• 1 small onion
• 2 handfuls frozen peas
• 2 tbsp mango chutney
• filo pastry (shop bought!)
• oil, salt and pepper

Method

• Start by making the filling. Heat a tbsp of oil in a frying pan and brown your lamb mince over a med/high heat. Don’t move it around the pan too much so you get some browning on the bottom, then make sure it is cooked through. 
• Grate the onion and the carrot on a coarse grater, and add to the mince. Cook for a few minutes until they are effectively dissolved. Add the curry paste, stir through, and cook for a few minutes. 
• Remove from the heat and put the mix into a heatproof bowl. Add the peas and mango chutney, and mix well. Put aside to cool. 
• Take your filo pastry out of the fridge, and lay out a sheet in front of you. Fold it in half, and put a tablespoon of the lamb mixture at the top. Fold over the side so it makes a triangle, and continue folding over until you have used up the strip of filo. I will be honest here – I ended up making slightly random parcels as I couldn’t get them to close properly! Whatever shape you end up with doesn’t really matter, it will still taste good…
• Brush your samosa/parcel with oil, and place on a baking sheet. Continue until you have used up all the filo/mince. 
• Bake at 180 fan for 30 minutes, until crispy and the filling is piping hot. 
• Enjoy with some cool raita or an extra dollop of mango chutney. 

Swaps and alternatives

• Make it veggie – you could make veggie samosas with potato, more peas, and cubed onion/carrot, maybe cauliflower. Just make sure all the veg are cooked before adding the curry paste. 
• You could easily use leftover roast lamb from your Sunday dinner for this, just cut/shred it and fry it lightly before adding the carrot, onion and paste. 
• Paste – you could make your own of course, or use any other type you fancy. I wouldn’t go too spicy because you will lose the sweetness of the mango chutney. 

Lockdown burrito bake

Very excited to be publishing my first lockdown recipe! This recipe came about because I had too much beef mince for a bolognese, but not quite enough to freeze and save for another… S loves Mexican food, and I had a few handy store cupboard ingredients that I used to make up the rest. I was very pleased with the results. I used sweetcorn on one side and jalapeños on the other, so you can really play around according to who likes what in your household!

It is a very flexible recipe with lots of swapping options, listed at the end of the recipe!

Ingredients – serves 4

• 250g beef mince
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 100g grated Cheddar
• 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes or passata
• tin black beans (pinto beans), drained
• 200g rice (any rice works well!)
• 2 tsp chipotle paste OR fajita spice mix **
• Plus you will need: salt & pepper, olive oil for frying, some water
• Optional extras: sweetcorn, jalapeños, guacamole, sour cream/natural yoghurt, tortilla chips

Method

• Start off by making your minced beef mix. Fry the chopped onion in a little oil over a medium heat until softened. Add the beef mince and let it brown (don’t move it around the pan so it can brown on the bottom) – then break up with 2 wooden spoons and cook through.
• Add the garlic and chipotle or spice mix and stir to distribute evenly. Cook for 1 min.
• Add the beans, and tomatoes, and a splash of water and season. Leave to cook for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook your rice according to packet instructions, and drain.
• Lay the rice in an ovenproof dish. Distribute the beef mixture on top. If these were made earlier and have gone cold, pop this in the oven for 15 mins at 180 fan until thoroughly warmed through.
• Add jalapeños and/or sweetcorn, if using. Sprinkle the grated cheese all over and grill under a moderate heat for 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
• Serve at once with your choice of accompaniments! Some ideas below:
• Guacamole, sour cream, chilli and mango salsa, tortilla chips – I had some tortilla wraps in the freezer, cut them into triangles and brushed them with olive oil – baked them in the oven for around 7 minutes at 180 fan, and there you have your own home made tortilla chips!

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• Swaps and other options
• Beef mince: you can use chicken instead. Leftover cooked chicken would be best and more tender, but otherwise breast or thigh chopped into small pieces would work just fine too. You could use leftover roast pork too!
• Go veggie: roast squash or sweet potato, or a mix of roast veg (courgette, peppers, mushrooms)
• Black beans: red kidney beans would work really well, but failing those, any kind of tinned pulse!
• Cheddar: Red Leicester, feta (wouldn’t melt but would taste lovely)
• ** if you don’t have either of these, just use whatever you can to give the beef some smokey chilli flavour – some chillies or chilli powder, smoked paprika, cumin – even Tobasco or another chilli sauce would work well here.
• Add fresh coriander if you have it (I didn’t)

Hope you enjoy it – let me know if you give it a go…