A Healthy Black Bean Burrito
An inexpensive nutritious and high-protein recipe
Concerns about high grocery bills and the cost of healthy items are prevalent in our
region and across the United States. There is growing anxiety regarding the rising
cost of grocery bills, with many households feeling the strain of inflated prices.
Additionally, the increasing expense of healthier food options is making it challenging for families to maintain nutritious diets without straining their finances.
My inexpensive, high-protein go-to when meat, egg and dairy prices go up is beans.
Nuts and seeds are great, too, but not always as affordable.
Healthy Black Bean Burrito: Makes Six Burritos
Ingredients:
- 1 T olive or avocado oil
- ½ a medium red onion diced
- 1 medium sweet potato in ½ inch cubes
- 2 cans of 14 oz black beans, rinsed and drained (or 3 cups of cooked dried beans)
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 t of low salt taco seasoning (or 1 t cumin, ½ t garlic powder, ½ t onion powder, ½ t oregano, ½ t paprika, ½ t salt)
- 4 handfuls of baby spinach
- ½ cup of salsa
- 6 large whole grain tortillas
- Optional for servings: avocado slices, shredded cheese, tomatoes
Instructions:
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and sweet potatoes, toss to coat with oil, add ¼ cup of water and cover.
- Cook for 5-7 minutes until sweet potatoes begin to soften.
- Add black beans, bell pepper, garlic, spices plus 1 cup of water. Simmer on medium until mixture is the consistency of sauce, about 7-10 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach, cook until wilted.
- Place mixture with salsa into tortillas, add desired toppings and wrap.
Note: Instead of a tortilla, place mixture on top of cooked brown rice.
In most recipes, you can replace meat with beans or use less meat while adding beans and starchy vegetables. To save food and money, consider using half the amount of meat that a recipe calls for and incorporate more vegetables like onions, peppers, and corn. This not only stretches your ingredients but also adds more nutrition to your diet.
According to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine,Lifestyle Medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic consitions including, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Lifestyle Medicine is the use of a whole food diet with lots of fruits, vegetables and plant-based proteins, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connection as treatment for prevention, improvement and reversal of chronic disease.