Mom Knows Best: Southwest Food

Showing posts with label Southwest Food. Show all posts

How To Make a Southwestern Style Sushi Burrito

A filling burrito-style sushi that is so easy to make.

I love sushi and have tried so many times to make it, only to fail at it. So the only way I get my sushi craving is by buying at a store but that can get pricey. Well, that has all changed as I have discovered a new simple way to get my sushi craving fulfilled. My new delicious sushi comes in the form of a burrito and has a wonderful spicy southwestern taste. A couple months ago, I was visiting my daughter in Las Vegas and stumble upon this wonderful restaurant, Jaburrito, while walking the strip. They served these wonderful handheld sushi wraps that were filled with not only traditional sushi ingredients but also some spicy southwestern ingredients. One bite and I was hooked. Since we don't have a Jaburritos here in Albuquerque, I knew I had to make my own version of these sushi burritos. My version is so good that even my husband loves them in his lunch. My husband will eat seaweed when it is a burrito! Not only are these wraps so delicious but they are healthy too!

Sushi burritos need premium roasted seaweed

If you are watching your carbs or calories, then you can make this sushi burrito without the tortilla as the nori seaweed will hold the items nicely together. You can also use different grains like a quinoa brown rice blend that I will substitute for the brown rice. My favorite and I mean favorite seaweed to use in my southwestern sushi burritos is gimMe premium roasted seaweed! These big sheets of seaweed are so good that I eat them plain straight from the package. They are my healthy delicious salty substitute for chips. Did you know that seaweed is a vegetable and has vitamins & minerals? Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine and vitamin K and a very good source of folate, magnesium, iron, and calcium.

Sushi Burrito is

+ Delicious

+ Healthy

+ Full of flavor

+ Dairy-Free

+ Great for lunch

+ Spicy

+ Full of protein

+ Loaded with fiber

Seaweed is

+ Loaded with vitamins

+ Loaded with minerals

+ Excellent source of iodine

+ Excellent source of vitamin K

+ Delicious

The perfect snack

With only 1 gram of carbs, seaweed is a perfect snack. These big sheets of seaweed are great for sandwich wraps too! GimMe seaweed is organic and NON-GMO! I love that I can buy gimMe seaweed at my local Sprouts store so I do not have to travel across town anymore to the international market when I want to make my Sushi Burritos. I admit that I buy gimMe just to snack on too!

A Sushi Burrito can be personalized

The wonderful thing about this delicious burrito is it can be made to your taste. You can white rice or another grain of your choice. Don't like carrots? Then omit them or add another veggie like spinach. You can switch the crab out and use shrimp or tuna. If you desire a less spicy sandwich, then use mayo instead of the chipotle mayo and omit the jalapenos. You can even make this spicy burrito without seaweed if you like but I don't recommend that as the seaweed adds awesome flavor. You can even skip the tortilla and make this sandwich into a sushi bowl. This is an excellent choice for people who follow a gluten-free diet.

Southwestern Style Sushi Burrito

Makes 4
Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tortillas
4 sheets roasted seaweed
1 package imitation crab flakes
1 small package of shredded carrots
1 avocado, sliced
small jar or can of sliced jalapenos
chipotle mayo

Directions
1. Cook the rice according to package instructions.
2. Pour rice vinegar and sugar into the cooked rice and mix gently. Set aside to cool.
3. Place a tortilla on a plate and lay a sheet of nori seaweed on it.
4. Spread a thin layer of rice all over the seaweed, leaving 1/2 inch space around the edges.
5. Add about 2 tablespoons of carrots down the middle of the rice and then add three pieces of crab on top of the crab.
6. Place about a tablespoon of the chipotle mayo and 2 avocado slices on the crab. Then top with 2-3 jalapeno slices.
7. Tightly roll everything up like a burrito. Repeat until all sushi burritos are made.

You will have extra ingredients left over. Just place them in the fridge and use them to make more delicious sushi burritos. You can also just make one sushi burrito at a time. My husband loves to pack my sushi burritos in his lunch. You must check out my recipe for spaghetti squash spring rolls for another healthy lunch idea that is easy to pack. This recipe is great for using up the extra shredded carrots.

http://www.momknowsbest.net/2017/05/spaghetti-squash-spring-rolls.html

Southwestern Slow Cooker Vegetarian Posole ~ Easy To Make

I live in New Mexico, and we have some food that may be uncommon in other states. Some of the food dishes that we enjoy are green chile, tamales, tortillas, enchiladas, and posole. Some of these items are staples in the house and are enjoyed on a daily basis, like tortillas but others are enjoyed less frequently. I know that most people have heard of tortillas, but here in New Mexico, they are preferred over other types of bread. We use tortillas like most people use sandwich bread. My family likes to use tortillas for peanut butter sandwiches! The grocery stores sell more tortillas than other bread products. In fact, New Mexico grocery stores have a bigger selection of tortillas than other types of bread.

Tamales and posole are traditional New Mexico foods that are served for special occasions and holidays. These dishes take a long time to make, so that may be a reason people serve them mostly at Christmas. Sure, you can buy these delicious dishes at many New Mexican restaurants and in the frozen section of the grocery store but they always taste better when homemade. Ingredients for tamales and posole are sold in abundance around the winter holidays. Ingredients like dried corn or frozen posole, red chile, and masa.

I like to serve Southwestern food at Christmas. Posole and tortillas are common items to serve on Christmas Eve here in New Mexico, while tamales are a common Christmas day menu item. My family likes to serve the leftover posole with the homemade tamales on Christmas. Sometimes we make our tamales and other times we buy locally made tamales for Christmas. I have friends who have tamale-making parties, as they do take a while to assemble.

Traditional posole is a soup made with pork and red chile pods. I don't eat meat so I make my posole without the pork, but I use plenty of red chile, as that is what gives this amazing dish the flavor and some heat. We New Mexicans love spicy food. Red chile is basically green chile that has ripened more. Like green chile, it comes in different heat levels. I like my red chile at a medium level as that gives my food a bit of a spicy kick, while my husband prefers hot red chile.

My younger boys like medium heat when it comes to chile spice level. The younger boys were born in New Mexico, so they like spicy foods and eat plenty of hot salsa. When we visited Chicago a couple of years ago, and ate at a Mexican restaurant there, the boys said that their hot salsa tasted like ketchup, as it had no heat to it. When I moved to New Mexico 22 years ago, I thought that mild green chile and salsa were too hot to eat but it did not take long for my taste buds to get used to the heat of the chiles. Now I like the spicy kick of green and red chile in my food. If you visit New Mexico, make sure to ask for the chile on the side as it may be too spicy for you.

Even though I have lived here for a long time, when I visit a Mexican restaurant, I ask the server what the heat level of the red or green chile is. The heat can vary day by day in restaurants as they are using fresh chiles.

Since posole can take a long time to cook, I like to make it in my slow cooker. I start the posole in the morning and let it cook all day so the dried white corn absorbs all the flavor from the spices and red chile. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to make Christmas cookies for Santa, and then we enjoy bowls of posole before we attend the Christmas Eve service at our church. A package of frozen posole makes a lot of soup, so there are always leftovers that we enjoy the next day.

Now that the boys are older, they are enjoying posole even more and request that I make it year-round. Once the weather gets cold, a warm bowl of posole with a fresh tortilla is the perfect meal. So I start the posole in the morning, and by dinner time it is done. The aroma from the posole makes the whole house smell so good. If you can't locate frozen posole where you live, just substitute hominy.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Posole
serves 10-12

Ingredients:
6 quarts water
1 2 lb. package frozen Posole
10-12 ounces frozen corn
2 medium onions, diced
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1½ tsp. salt
1 14 oz. container Frozen Red Chile

Instructions
Place all ingredients in the slow cooker crock. Place the lid on the crock and cook on high for 4-6 hours, stirring after one hour. Serve with cheese, sour cream, and sliced avocados if desired.

This posole goes wonderfully with tamales. Go Here to get my recipe for Slow Cooker Vegetarian Tamales.