Make Ahead Super Green Vegan Quinoa Burritos
Vegan burritos packed with all the good stuff - quinoa, mung beans, and lots of kale - tossed with a creamy, serrano-spiked avocado dressing.
Burritos make good plane food. I remember seeing a woman twenty years ago on a flight with her husband and two children. They all had burritos. Foiled peeled back, five hours into a flight, I wanted to insert myself into her family. It was the moment I realized that a bit of extra craziness as you're trying to get out of the house for a trip can be worth it. So, yes, burritos - they're portable, you can eat a portion, rewrap, and save the rest for later. And the best part? You can fill them with whatever you like.
I made these vegan burritos to take on a flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, and froze the remainder to guarantee an easy meal when we got back. Each one is filled with quinoa, mung beans, and lots of shredded kale. Which might not sound appetizing, but(!) everything comes together with a creamy, serrano chile-spiked avocado dressing. Think feisty green goddess. The dressing is boosted with extra lemon, and the acid helps to keep the avocado bright, and loosens the kale up a bit at the same time. Double win.
A couple of notes...I like these at room temperature, but you can certainly heat if you like. To freeze, wrap in a later of parchment paper, and then again in a piece of foil. Place in a large freezer bag. Also, if you have a hard time finding mung beans, swap in other beans or lentils.
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Make Ahead Super Green Vegan Quinoa Burritos
Feel free to play around with the wrap itself if tortillas aren't your thing - collard leaves, kale, or sheets of nori are all alternatives.
- 1 avocado
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 scallion, trimmed
- handful of chives, basil, and/or cilantro
- 1/4 cup tahini or almond butter
- 1/4 cup water
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice
- salt or coconut aminos, to taste
- 1 serrano chile pepper (optional)
- 2 bunches of kale, de-stemmed, and sliced
- 6 multi-grain or spinach tortillas
- 3 cups cooked mung beans
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- optional: toasted pepitas, hemp seeds
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Combine the avocado, garlic, scallion, herbs, tahini, water, lemon juice, salt, and serrano in a blender or food processor and pulse until creamy. Transfer to a jar.
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Place the kale in a large bowl, and add about 1/2 of the dressing to it. Massage with your hands until the kale is nicely coated and beginning to collapse a bit.
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Place one tortilla on the counter and fill with about 1/2 cup of the quinoa, 1/2 cup of the mung beans, a couple generous dollops of the dressing, a handful of the kale mixture, and a sprinkling of pepitas and hemp seeds (if using). Fold and roll, and then repeat with the remaining burritos. Wrap each in parchment paper, and then foil if you're planning on eating later. You can freeze in multiples, wrapped in parchment, and then foil in large plastic bag.
Makes 6 burritos.
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Comments
These look amazing but I unfortunately don't have tahini or almond butter. Could I go without or maybe even substitute peanut butter? Thanks in advance!
These were delicious and finally, a way to get my kale-resistent husband to eat kale! He loved them. Also, FYI I used Rudi's spinach tortillas (GF), they're a little smaller but they're a good alternative for anyone with a wheat intolerance. I warmed these tortillas on a cast iron griddle and they rolled well.
About to make these and I plan on freezing 4 of them! How did you defrost the frozen burritos? Did you just let them sit out at room temperature? For how long? In the foil or out?
This is perfect. Going to try this for my travel in a few weeks.
Gorgeous! Love the idea for freezing these before leaving for vacation. I'm probably not the only one with a bad habit of ordering takeout as soon as I get home from the airport... *_*
Made these last week, had one fresh and froze the rest for this week's lunches. The dressing is delicious and goes really well with the kale. Next time I'll reduce the quinoa or mix into the beans with some dressing - my inexperienced burrito skills meant some rather boring mouthfuls among the flavoursome ones! The froze/defrosted perfectly using Heidi's instructions.
I have never been a burrito person. However, when I saw the part about how you included the avocado, I decided that I had to make these. Mine are with lentils, cilantro, and using spinach tortillas, but the one that I ate was amazing. I appreciated that it was fresh with some well-developed flavors. And since I produced an entire recipe, I have five more in the freezer for later! I am also definitely inspired to want to make other burritos in the future.
Yum!! I got everything for these but was unable to find the mung beans. I may try lentils and see how those work? Grateful this recipe popped up now -- I'm pregnant and am trying to be more conscious of dark leafy green consumption :-)
Thanks you for this recipe, that's next week trip's lunch sortied!
I've never used mung beans when cooking, can you give me some pointers?? Do I cook them?? Raw?? Help, the recipe looks delicious!!
HS: Hi Katelyn - no problem! For this recipe you just treat them like any other dried bean. And in a pinch, if I'm pressed for time, you don't need to soak them. Cover with water, simmer until tender, and drain. They're incredibly nutritious, and you can also play around with them by sprouting them, grinding them into a flour, chopping the cooked beans and using them in veggie burgers, etc, etc.....Have fun!
These were a hit--so much left over too, exciting freezer scene now... I can't believe I've never made burritos at home. We used sprouted mung beans and subbed roasted poblano pepper. Excited to experiment with different grains and add-ons.
This is all of my favorite things wrapped up in one! Yums!
The right dressing/sauce can make any combination of veggies/grains taste great. I am definitely going to try this one.
YUM! Those look delicious! What brand of tortillas did you use? Those ones look really good!
Hi Jillian! Shoot - I didn't hang onto the packaging. While I was on the look-out for spinach tortilla, picked up these instead. They had something like 10g of protein, and were only 100 calories per tortilla, multigrain....they were a bit more delicate than typical tortillas, but I would buy them again...
Loved this! Delicious and easy to prepare.
I love a good burrito and these look amazing! Just wondering what brand tortillas you like? I have a hard time finding ones with quality ingredients that will also not fall completely apart upon rolling.
HS: Hi Tonya - I'm not super loyal on this front, and tend to bounce around depending on where I'm shopping, what I'm making, etc. There are some really good local brands....if you find a brand you like (larger tortillas), with good ingredients, give me a shout, the multi-grain ones I used here were pretty good, a little delicate, but useable, and tasted good....
These look fabulous. However, I am not able to eat avocado, so I wonder if you can suggest a suitable substitute for the dressing.
HS: HI Betty - you know, I sort of think roasted sweet potato or roasted carrots might be a nice replacement?
These look terrific and I am making them tonight. One question Heidi- what did you actually freeze - the dressing or did you make burritos and freeze them?
HS: Hi Susan, I just freeze the entire burrito.
These look amazing!! How long do you think they'd last stored in the fridge?
HS: Hi Marlies - Day ahead was fine for me, for these less time vs. more is going to be better.
I lived off burritos in college - such an easy way to get a variety of nutrients in one easy package. My favorite was always Tex-Mex breakfast burritos :)