“It’s a burrito. I mean what is special about a burrito? You go to the store, buy a pack of seasoning and some tortillas. You go home, brown meat and wrap it all up.” I have two responses to that. 1) i’m never eating burritos at your house. 2) this is not a burrito my friend.

Burrito fake out with a side of red potato “chips”

What you Need:

2 lbs of Course ground chuck (sometimes listed as chilli ground)

4 cups of chopped spinach (or lettuce)

4 cups of chopped tomato

4 tortillas

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese

2 cloves of garlic grated

2 teaspoons ginger powder

2 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons lemon juice

1 full pinch of salt

2 full pinches of black pepper

1/2 a chopped red onion (optional)

4 cups of cooked black beans

2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 cups of thinly sliced baby red potatoes (so thin you can see light through it easily)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Extra Virgin olive oil (EVOO)

How it’s done:

~First preheat your oven to 350°F and drizzle your EVOO across a large cookie sheet.

~ lay out your thin slices of potato in a single layer on the cookie sheet (do not overlap) and drizzle more EVOO over the tops of them

~Sprinkle a pinch of salt across the pan of potatoes. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over them as well (NOT cinnamon-sugar)

~cook for about 10 minutes checking to make sure they don’t burn. You want them to crisp up.

~Preheat your favorite skillet to about med-high.

~Combine the meat, salt, pepper, sesame oil, paprika, ginger, garlic, and lemon juice. Mix it  until everything is evenly distributed then leave it alone. You don’t want to over mix it.

~drizzle a little EVOO in your skillet and brown up your meat (raw meat is bad)

~Drain your meat  of the grease and begin assembling your fake-out burritos with the meat, cheese, spinach, tomato, onions and black beans wrapped nice and tight in you your tortilla. You can also add hot sirachi sauce if you like.

~serve with the “chips” and enjoy. Note: the potatoes will not be sweet so don’t worry.

Makes 4 large/stuffed burritos and a cup of chips to go with every burrito.

Substitutions/Cheats!

Trade out the ground chuck for ground or shredded meat including fish! If you do something shredded let it sit with all the seasoning for about an hour in the fridge before you  begin cooking.

You can trade out the red potatoes with thin slices of plantains, sweet potatoes or even eggplant. I picked red potatoes because they are easy to slice raw with a box grater, food processor, mandolin, or whatever else you have to make a thin slice.

You can use canned black beans but you MUST drain them very well. You can also use other kinds of beans if you prefer without changing the taste too much.

Be free to experiment with the seasoning on the potatoes and the toppings of the fake-out burrito.