Burritos. One of my top five favourite foods. I think they lie in most university student’s top five. They are usually massive which is always a plus and they are just tightly packed full of delicious flavors. Anyways they hold a very special place in my heart, especially the burritos from Tacofino. If you are an islander and you have not tried Tacofino I recommend you stop reading my blog this instant and go and get yourself one of their burritos. While you’re there you should also grab one of their diablo cookies if you like spicy foods. Okay, now we are off topic back to the burritos. I love burritos but they are usually filled with greasy meat, a bunch of rice, cheese, and sauces. I always find myself feeling weighed down after I eat them but in a gross kind of way. I decided I wanted to try and make a burrito that would leave me feeling much less gross and greasy.

Alright, so this might not be the healthiest in burrito overall but I did make some substitutions which definitely made it a bit healthier. We have completely removed the meat, swapped the regular cheese for low-fat cheese, and swapped the rice for cauliflower “rice”. Of course, you will be able to taste the difference but it doesn’t matter because this burrito tastes like heaven wrapped up in a little blanket.

I started by chopping up about half a head of cauliflower. I did not grate the cauliflower which is how people usually make cauliflower rice. I did this because if the cauliflower is too small during cooking it can result in it turning to mush which I wanted to avoid.

Next, I peeled and chopped up two small sweet potatoes. I then brought some water to a boil in a large pan and plopped everything in.

I then strained and rinsed my beans and waited for the sweet potato and cauliflower to cook a bit.

As I waited for the food to cook I grated up some cheese and started assembling my burrito.

I used up half an avocado, which had almost reached the end of its life in the fridge, by slicing it up thinly and adding it as the bottom layer of my burrito.

The food had reached a soft consistency and I was able to stab through it with ease. I strained out the water and added some olive oil and my beans. At this point, I also added some seasoning salt, fajita seasoning (I was out of taco seasoning), and roasted garlic seasoning. I then left the lid on the pan and let this all cook at low heat until the beans were soft as well.

I then put my filler mix into my burrito wrap on top of the avocado and added some cheese on top with some chipotle mayo.

The last and most important step is to press the burrito. You can either use a panini press or if you do not have a press you can just pan fry the burrito on both sides. This step is essential. You will not get the same burrito without this step. The crisp-ness is VERY important. I cannot stress this enough.

So although the burrito is still filled with cheese, sweet potato, and chipotle mayo it is healthier than a burrito I would pick up from Tacofino. The low-fat cheese is already helping out by being low-fat and switching the rice out for cauliflower was a no brainer. I immediately was able to swap out some major carbs for a major source of Vitamin C. By using black beans I was able to incorporate a great source of fiber into my meal as well. By adding the avocado I was able to add a bit of Vitamin B-6 and a good amount of potassium into the meal. My personal favourite part of this meal was completely taking out the meat. I was able to eat the burrito and not feel greasy afterwards which was a huge part of why I wanted to try this recipe!

Thanks for reading!

All photos were taken by myself.