Meals-in-Minutes Monday

Hi! Kristin here with my very first JFD blog post! I love to cook and I love to try out new recipes. A few months back I saw these Chicken and Black Bean Burritos in my newest Food Network magazine and knew I just had to try them out.

Oh. My. Word. They are to die for. And choc full of good-for-you ingredients, too! Here's the recipe and then I'll give you some tips to go along with the recipe.

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 2 cloves garlic; 1 smashed, 1 minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 pound (about 2 cups) frozen diced butternut squash, thawed
• 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken, skin removed
• 1 15-ounce can black beans
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, plus 2 tablespoons pickling liquid
• 4 8-inch whole-wheat tortillas, warmed
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Plain low-fat yogurt or sour cream, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Add the rice and smashed garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup water, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the squash and reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer, undisturbed, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle the chicken over the rice mixture, cover and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, make the bean salsa: Drain and rinse the beans, quarter the tomatoes and chop the cilantro and jalapenos. Toss with the pickling liquid and minced garlic in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir the chicken-rice mixture and spoon it down the center of each tortilla, then top with half of the bean salsa and sprinkle with the cheese. Fold in the sides and roll up. Slice in half and serve with avocado, the remaining bean salsa and yogurt, if desired.

Per serving: Calories 497; Fat 15 g (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 25 mg; Sodium 620 mg; Carbohydrate 70 g; Fiber 11 g; Protein 24 g

Some handy tips from me...
*I found frozen butternut squash hard to find... okay I never found it. But I did find, in the produce section, a bag of microwaveable butternut squash... and it was already cut up into chunks!
*While fresh garlic is best tasting, if you don't want to mess with it, just get a jar of already-minced garlic.
*Use the leftover rotisserie chicken to make this fabulous BBQ Chicken Salad.

Enjoy!