Homemade Chipotle

After moving to DC last spring and discovering the amazingness that is Chipotle, I have been hooked. I would eat it every day if I could. Unfortunately, there is not one within walking distance of our new home and there is not one within driving distance of my school. This makes me very sad. Today I seriously considered getting on the beltway at lunch time to drive the 10 miles there and back on my 30 minute lunch break. Unfortunately, that is NOT possible.

So what is a good problem solver to do? Find a way to make my own Chipotle, of course!

I found this recipe for the special Chipotle rice on RecipeZaar.com:

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
• 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup white basmati rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 lime

Directions

1. In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted.

2. Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute.

3. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. (Some people have had success with 1 cup of water, but when I've made it with 2 it worked for me).

4. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

5. Add in the cilantro and fluff rice with a fork.

I used a little more than 2 tablespoons of lime juice because I wanted to really be able to taste the lime. I also used 1 cup of long grain rice and 2 cups of water because that is what the directions on the back of the rice said. The rice was still a little undone, so I am guessing that can be fixed by adding a tad more water next time? Not sure....this is the first time I made rice that wasn't instant.

Doesn't it look just like the real stuff? It tasted exactly like it too!

(Excuse my dirty stove)

As for the rest of the burrito ingredients....

I made black beans for me and chicken for AJ. The black beans were easy. I opened a can and dumped them into the pan. Voila!

For the chicken I used Perdue Short Cuts. I heated the chicken strips in a pan for a few minutes, chopped them in my handy Slap Chop wannabe, returned it to the pan, and added a dash or ten of chipotle powder and cayenne pepper. AJ likes his food SPICY.

To top off the burritos I bought the traditional fare....pre-made of course. Wholly Guacamole might be my favorite guac ever because it tastes homemade. I like Sarah's Salsa because it is chunky and more similar to pico de gallo than traditional salsa. And the cheese....well, it is just Harris Teeter Mexican blend cheese. Sometimes a girl has got to be frugal! I bought tortillas as well, but apparently I didn't take a picture of them. The tortilla was the one thing that was noticeably different than what you get at Chipotle. It was much thicker and I couldn't figure out a way to steam it like they do in Chipotle. Oh well.

The whole process was kind of time consuming and way more expensive than buying two burritos at Chipotle since I had to buy normal size packages of all the ingredients. However, it was totally worth it. The burritos tasted very similar to the real thing. Also, we are big Mexican cuisine lovers in this house so I will surely use up the leftover ingredients.

Here is my finished product! If only I knew how to roll the burrito....