SUMMER MEALS POST ONE: BURRITO BOWLS

I'm a little embarrassed. It has been so long. It feels like when you awkwardly run into a friend on the street and they say, "How long have you lived here?!" And you say, "A year and a half....sorry I never...called..."

Ah well - I'm back.

Thought I'd start my August posts after a long hiatus with some meal inspiration. We barbecue all summer because I don't want to heat up the house by turning the stove on and our meals get so boring to me. You must get where I'm coming from. It's a variation of a grilled veggie, potatoes, and chicken breast with an occasional hamburger or kabob thrown in. Snooze fest.

I can't take the credit for some of these meals I'm going to share with you guys because I texted three people in my life who I feel make delicious meals. :) My friend S said she had been planning on making burrito bowls at some point and I thought that was a fantastic idea. To cook them I used my rice maker and one burner on the stove - minimal heating up of the house and not barbecue!! Hallelujah!

First off I started the basmati rice in the rice cooker (the longest step). Then I fried up some extra lean hamburger with some thinly sliced red onion (we're not the biggest onion fans in over here). When that was cooked I added a half package of taco seasoning. Next I added some black beans (you buy them with the other canned vegetables - I had never used them before) and corn - both rinsed and drained. To assemble, put rice in a bowl and then the hamburger/bean mixture over top. Then I added the cold ingredients - fresh tomato, sliced green onion, a couple of spoonfuls of salsa and sour cream, and grated cheese. Mix up and enjoy. This is a fairly healthy meal (as long as you watch your portions of meat and rice!), something out of the ordinary for us, and didn't make the house any hotter than necessary. Hope you like it! Stay tuned because I'm going to show you what else I've made with black beans and corn recently. Thanks for the idea, S!