There’s an elephant in my kitchen

Lunch: Make-ahead spicy bean burritos

There was an elephant in my kitchen, but perhaps it was in my head.

Since returning to this newsletter last year after a long gap, I was worried it had lost its way a bit.

It’s been a shaky restart of hit-and-miss consistency and off-topic ramblings, but there’s always the food.

With the new year, I find myself reflecting on where it should go. Should I have a plan? Am I standing in my kitchen reheating leftovers for an uninvited elephant?

I look at my Notes app.

Share as I would around the table.

You can sit with me.

Have you eaten?

Here, take a plate.

And there’s a word I keep coming back to: Sobremesa, a Spanish word used to describe the relaxed time around the table, sharing good conversation after you’ve shared good food.

The idea for The Working Lunch started at a time when I was missing those shared moments around food (its initial preconcept was a mini-project in lockdown). They’re still important now. I still love food. I still work from home, like many of us do. This space remains a place to join the two.

My original intention for this newsletter remains the same: Love your lunch break!

I read recently about the concept of desire lines. It describes unplanned routes taken in preference or defiance of a designated path or when there is no clear path. You follow your feet where they choose to go.

Thanks for coming with me. I’ve got shit navigation skills, but I know when it’s time to stop for lunch.

Make-ahead

Spicy bean burritos

A super simple and very quick lunch that can be made ahead of time and reheated when you’re ready

When it’s cold, and it’s been so cold recently, I actually cannot face eating a cold lunch. Strange, when I can happily tuck into a cold breakfast of the same granola, kefir and berries every morning. But I want something hot at lunch, I need something to look forward to after a morning tapping away on the keys and before I brave the weather for my winter lunchtime walk. Burritos are ticking a lot of the boxes: hot, spicy, quick.

I’m not a massive fan of tortilla wraps unless they’re being heated or cooked in some way. They’re at their absolute best when filled and baked. The bread steams on the inside making it softer which is a delightful contrast to the crispy bits where the doubled-over folds of the wrap have baked in the oven.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla wrap

• Tinned taco beans, drained

• Cheddar cheese, grated

• Jalapeños

• Pre-cooked microwave rice (I’ve used the Aldi Worldwide Foods Mexican Style Rice)

To make:

1. Lay out the wrap and fill it with a few spoonfuls of beans, rice, grated cheese and a few slices of jalapeños. Careful not to overfill otherwise it won’t wrap or the filling will burst out.

2. Wrap the burrito by folding in the sides first, then rolling to encase the filling.

3. Cover the burrito tightly in foil or greaseproof paper

4. Place in the fridge until you’re ready to eat

5. Leave it in its foil to reheat in the oven until it’s piping hot. I heated mine for 30 mins at 190c. I’m sure an air fryer would also work much quicker for reheating, but I think I’m the only person who hasn’t got one yet.

One pack of rice and a tin of taco beans makes about three/four burritos, but this will depend on the size of the tortilla wraps and how much you can fit in them. By using beans and rice that are already flavoured, they are so quick to assemble.

These are better prepared ahead of time, so they sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. This way any remaining sauce from the beans soaks up into the rice creating a firmer burrito.

What’s also nice about this is that you can swap the fillings around. I did another one with leftover beef chilli from a never-ending batch, but you could use different veggies or other meats like pulled pork or leftover roast chicken.

And if you’re wondering what to do with the rest of the pack of tortilla wraps, how about a black bean quesadilla or these fridge-raid fried eggs?