Don’t build a wall – build these black bean burritos

Now that the weather is so cold, I’ve turned to warming chillies and hot breakfasts to start our day on the right foot.

Porridge is fantastic but I dread cleaning the porridge pot before we all rush out the door. One of the dishes I’ve been making ahead in batches for breakfast lately is: burritos.

The ultimate Mexican hand-held breakfast roll. There’s no limit really to what you can put in burritos.

Keep within the general Tex Mex theme of chillies, cheese, salsa and beans and you can’t go wrong. I sometimes add avocado if I’m eating them right away.

Crumbled fried chorizo is divine with the feta while smoked cheese is delicious, too. It’s good to have a bean base and build on that. I always add plenty of vegetables, such as peppers and sweetcorn or cubed potato.

For breakfast, adding scrambled eggs works well and will ensure you get a great protein-packed start to the day. I often make burritos with leftovers – such as rice, chili con carne or roast chicken.

Kids love them

To make burritos more of a dinner dish you can tuck them all tightly into an oven-proof dish, cover in spicy tomato sauce and cheese, and then bake them enchilada style.

Sides for dipping and dolloping include salsa and sour cream but these are just as great on their own.

The recipe below freezes really well when tightly wrapped in foil. The only problem with stocking the freezer full of delicious burritos is that you will know they are there and come to rely on them.

We’ve had them for breakfast and, on the following day, for lunch or dinner.

They’ve become an “anytime” burrito and the kids love them.

Instead of picking out the green pepper, they just eat them – anything hand-held is ideal for small children. It’s a great way to get more vegetables into their diet.

This is a gorgeous breakfast for rushed mornings and more nutritious than a sugary bowl of cereal. Starting next week, I will have some great festive food recipes for when we have a bit more time over the holiday season.

BLACK BEAN BREAKFAST BURRITOS: SERVES 6

Ingredients

½ red pepper, diced

½ green pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

240g black beans, cooked

100g sweetcorn

15g coriander, chopped

2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves

150g mature cheddar cheese

150g feta cheese

2 tbsp jalapeño peppers, roughly chopped

6 large wraps

2 tbsp olive oil

Method

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium pan. Add the diced peppers and onion. Place the lid on and lower the heat, leave to sauté for five minutes until the onion is softened. Remove from the heat.

Stir in the black beans, sweetcorn, jalapeños and coriander. Season with a little salt.

To assemble the burritos, lay a wrap flat and place some spinach leaves and 2 large tablespoons of bean mix in the centre. Place some cheddar and feta on top.

Fold the two opposite sides of the tortilla in so that they almost meet. Then fold or roll the two remaining open ends so the burrito is very tightly sealed.

To eat right away, just place the burrito on a dry pan over a high heat and leave to get toasty and brown so the cheese inside melts. Turn over and toast on the sides, too.

If you want to heat a few at a time then just place all of the burritos seal-side down on a tray and bake for ten minutes in a hot oven, 200 degrees.

To freeze, just wrap each burrito tightly in tinfoil or cling film and store in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to eat.

Defrost fully before heating.