I Accidentally Discovered the Best Burrito Ever

When it comes to burritos, I am a fanatic. Cover them in insanely hot pork green chile and you have my heart forever. Last night I was rummaging through the fridge to find something to make for dinner. Nothing really sounded great and we have a couple of dishes of leftovers still hanging in the balance. One of them was fajitas. Okay, I can work with that. What else do I have? Some steamed white rice. I can use that too. A package of tortillas from Tortilleriea Las 4 Americas in Fort Collins. Let's make burritos.

Matt Sparx

The fajitas were made with flat iron steak, chicken breast, bell peppers, and yellow onion. Recently I picked up a bottle of Meat Church Fajita seasoning and let me tell you, it is now my go-to seasoning for anything fajita or Mexican. My trusty cast iron pan made quick work of reheating the leftover fajitas on medium-high heat.

The rice is where the burrito really shines. The leftover rice was a bit dry and I decided that I wanted to try my hand at a rendition of fried rice. Seeing a couple of Youtube videos of how to fry rice, I figured that I could do it with no problem. I took about a cup and a half of the steamed white rice and cracked two eggs into the bowl and mixed. While the pan heated up, I proceeded to chop up Hatch green chiles. As soon as the pan was sufficiently hot enough, I added a bit of vegetable oil and fried up the chiles to infuse the oil. Tossing the rice and egg mixture into the pan started a nice sizzle. Stirring the beginnings of fried rice often to ensure the lack of clumping and even cooking.

Now that we are done with the two components of the burrito, it's time to get to the assembly. Combining the fajita mixture and the fried rice blends the two together nicely. You could add each item into the burrito separately if you chose to do so. I put the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm them up. Microwaving the tortillas not only warms them but also makes the tortillas more pliable and easier to roll into a burrito without tearing the tortilla. Adding a touch of cheese finished off the burrito before it was rolled up and ready to eat.

When it was all said and done, I was able to create a new dish out of two leftover items in less than ten minutes total. It was a great way to use up the leftover items in the fridge without having to have the same thing two nights in a row.

This is a quick rundown of the ingredients that were used to make the burritos:

Fajitas