Journeys in the Kitchen - Recipe # 1

 Note: I started this on my family blog, but decided to make a separate blog with just my recipes. This is the first one. Tomorrow I will post one that I have been working on for the past week or so. I think I finally have it where I want it, so check back!

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Beef and Black Bean Wraps

Let's face it, in this world of economic struggle, we all don't have the money to go out and buy steak or porkchops all the time for our growing families. So what's the meat (other than chicken) that we tend to gravitate towards? Ground beef. And I don't know about you, but I get mighty tired of having the same thing with ground beef and the same boring tacos. So I stumbled upon this recipe and made some changes to it and it has become a beloved dish among me and my husband. Try it out! I promise, you will love it too! And it's very easy to make.

  

Start to finish: 25 minutes Makes: 6 Servings 

• 8 ounces of ground beef

• 1/2 cup of chopped onion (about half of a regular size onion)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (or bottled minced garlic if you have it for a stronger garlic flavor)

• 1-1/2  teaspoons ground cumin

• 1  teaspoon chili powder

• 1/2   teaspoon of ground coriander. (if you have whole coriander like me, you can toast the seeds in a toaster               oven or your own oven for a few minutes and crush the seeds. I don't go through this step because I don't               want to take the time and I don't mind the coriander not being crushed, but my husband does. So it's up to           you!)

• 1  15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1  15-ounce can of chopped tomatoes (i have found the Hunt's tomatoes: diced taste the best)

• 1/4  teaspoon salt

• 1/4  teaspoon black pepper

• 6    8-inch whole wheat flour tortillas (or regular flour tortillas - both work fine)

• 1-1/2  cups shredded lettuce

• 1-1/2  cups of shredded cheddar

• Bottled salsa (optional)

 Step one: in a large skillet cook ground beef, onion, and garlic about 5 minutes or until meat is brown and onion is tender at medium high heat. Drain off fat. Stir cumin, chili powder, and coriander into meat mixture in skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in black beans, tomato, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 10 - 12 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. If you don't have a skillet with a cover just cover with tin foil. Covering the meat mixture is important because it keeps the flavor in.

Step two: warm up tortillas either in the microwave for 15 seconds or on a new skillet. Spoon some beef mixture down the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with lettuce and cheese (and avocado if you like it) and roll up. If desired, serve with salsa.

Each wrap is approximately 267 calories if using wheat tortillas and 283 calories for regular flour tortillas.

I hope you try this out and let me know what you think!