Comments on: How Low Can You Go? Vegetarian Burrito Bowls

By: Katie M.

Katie M. — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:18:21 +0000

I tried this recipe with instant brown rice and lime juice and ack! the rice was so sour it was inedible. It has been so long since I made regular rice…do you rinse the liquid away as opposed to instant rice where the rice just absorbs the liquid? At any rate, don’t make the same mistake unless you want to throw away a pot of rice!

By: Ryan Anthony

Ryan Anthony — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:11:13 +0000

Trent – I think the recipe looks excellent, but I have a feeling I’ll be substituting a little salsa for the sour cream (my girlfriend doesn’t like the stuff – works out healthwise too). I’m going to try using the slow cooker method for the beans from comment #21 as well. And, as a lamely nitpicky comment, I think “Dos Equis XX” is a bit redundant :) Thanks.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:47:40 +0000

The recipe says to use lemon juice, but the instructions say to use lime juice. Which did you use?

By: Mary Nasfell

Mary Nasfell — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:32:54 +0000

You give the price per serving for the original recipes, but not for your revised version—
could you include the revised price? I always expect to see it and am always surprised it isn’t there.

By: kate

kate — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:44:49 +0000

Here’s my favorite fast-food variation. I call it a California black bean bowl.

*cook rice (or, if you have a rice cooker with a timer you can do this in the morning).
*Heat a can of Goya black bean soup
*shred some lettuce or use pre-washed…(I like romaine)
*shred some cheese (I like cheddar)
*chop a tomatoes
Optional other items: chopped avocado, sour cream, hot sauce (I love sciracca sauce on everything).

Just put the salad in your bowl, top with rice, then black beans, then cheese, then tomatoes, then sour cream, avocado, sciracca sauce. good, fast, cheap. I’d rather eat this then go out.

We do variations of this with other Goya beans in sauce. When you put them on rice with a bunch of other stuff, they are very tasty, and they cost $1.00/can, or less.

By: Blair

Blair — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:24:16 +0000

Invest in a food processor with grater attachment for quickly shredding large blocks of cheese (and veggies to add to rice) quickly. Best thing ever.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:42 +0000

Going to have to try it – my tummy is now saying “feed me feed me”!!! Might be good to make for a football game. Go Texans!

By: Foxmom

Foxmom — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:06:44 +0000

Silly man, you don’t use a mix for guacamole. Just mix some of your favorite picante sauce, maybe a dollop of sour cream if you’re really feeling adventurous. That’s Texmex for ya!

By: SP

SP — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:08:33 +0000

IMO, shredded cheese can be very comparable to block, depending on the sales and store.

Anyway, this one looks like something I’d eat for sure. I agree fresh ciliantro is 1000 times better (same for nearly all spices), but I do hate that I use a small bit of it and the rest goes bad before I am inventive and efficient enough to use it.

On the photos — I do agree that the very popular food blogs have incredible photos. You probalby know this as I assume you read food blogs. (?)

I imagine you have a point and shoot, and you will struggle to get stunning food photos out of it. I’m not sure what your motives for the food blog are — hobby or profit? You’ll get a decent readership just from TSD’s success, but if you are running it a business rather than a hobby, you’ll want more striking food photos. I’m not an expert in the least, but your composition seems fine, it’s more lighting or camera settings or… yeah, not an expert.

By: Tuimeltje

Tuimeltje — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:28:45 +0000

Looks nice!
As I was reading the original recipe I was a bit surprised at the mention of the special rice until I read the rest of the post. :)

As far as I’m concerned, you don’t really need any fancy equipment to take pictures worthy of a food blog. I have only a basic digital camera and not much skill yet I enjoy a bit of food blogging when I have the time. Though I must admit, it’s not something I do professionally. I don’t make restaurant-worthy food, just easy and mostly tasty things.

One of the supermarket chains around here has a 2-for-1 deal on avocados next week. I think I might be making some guacamole as well. And go to the market before uni to see if I can get me some fresh cilantro. It’s only about 1/4th of the price of the tiny bits sold in supermarkets around here.

As for the sour cream, I’m not sure about the fat content or how it compares to dairy sour cream (haven’t had that in ages), but I’m quite fond of soya cooking cream.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:33:22 +0000

Great idea – but what is up with the prepackaged, pre-shredded cheese in your photo?!?!?! Have you not posted in the past about the incredible price per-gram difference in cheese blocks vs. the packaged, grated stuff, and it essentially amounts to paying someone something like $80 an hour just to grate the cheese for you?? I’d rather grate cheese for a few seconds than soak beans.

Ditto to the comments on guac. spice mix – massively cheaper, healthier, and tastier to make your own.

By: Jo

Jo — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:02:28 +0000

What a delicious looking recipe; kudos, too, because it’s vegetarian. I C&P’d it to Word, saved it after I printed a copy of it for a meal this week. I DID keep your name in the title.

This works excellently in my menu planning, as I am trying to reduce my food inventory due to an upcoming out-of-state move. There’s nothing worse than toting along one’s foodstuffs, unless it’s non-”spoilable.” But it does add unnecessary weight; we are paying completely out of pocket for the movers – minus the packing. This we are doing to save money. But I digress….

I look forward to preparing it. It has the kinds of ingredients I enjoy using when in the mood for something Mexican. I will be using brown rice, however. And there’s nothing like preparing Guacamole from scratch. It’s one of my weaknesses. Thank goodness it’s healthy. Avocados are one of the top-ranking good fats.

By: BirdDog

BirdDog — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:26:40 +0000

Looks like you’ve lost a good bit of weight, congrats!

By: LYG

LYG — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:33:46 +0000

You can greatly increase the volume of guacamole by adding water to the whole mixture. Try a few tablespoons per avocado to start until you determine the consistency that pleases you. This is a time-honored tradition among my very Mexican family and helps a little go a long way!

And I agree with everyone else trumpeting the merit of fresh spices (especially cilantro). Get some seeds and grow a pot in your kitchen – it can’t be beat.

By: Money Funk

Money Funk — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:35:02 +0000

So, its like eating a 7 layer dip w/out the meat and tortilla chips? I’m all for it! Love my veggies!

By: Vikki

Vikki — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:29:03 +0000

The cost per serving goes down A LOT for SLOW west coaster. I was able to get my $/serving down to $1.23.
I have my herbs in the window, and got limes and avocados from the farmers market for pennies. I think I spent a bit more on a small block of my preferred cheddar, $1.98 for 1/3 of the block (self shredding is tastier, but less portable). Beans/rice in 20 pound bags, so the cost per cup is about a dime (unless I’m totally forgetting what I paid). I’m also very fortunate regarding the olives. I know someone who grows and cures her own well enough to get some as gifts/trade for my jam, reducing my cost to about fifty cents.

SLOW, btw, is the acronym for Seasonal, Local, Organic and Whole.

By: SoCalGal

SoCalGal — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:58:12 +0000

Love the post Trent. I especially loved the thought of a portable meal & the ability to make it meatless. I do not understand the gripes about the photography. As a professional photographer, I have no problems with your photos. Keep up the good work!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:54:52 +0000

I second #19. Great job on the weight loss, Trent!

By: dsz5463

dsz5463 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:39:15 +0000

Thanks for sharing. I’ll add shredded lettuce and scallions for a summer dish and serve it hot with non-Velveeta con queso and tortillas during football season. I’ve got to agree with the fat-free sour cream comment. I’d rather use less cheese and a small amount of full-fat sour cream, but that’s just my taste.
I had to chuckle at the Dos Equis (Dos Equis XX is redundant) as we bought some solely because of the ‘most interesting man’ commercials. It’s not bad, but for the money I’ll stick with Sam Adams.
I think the photography is fine. The photos while not artistic are clear and I like the homespun character and that the dish is shown the way it would look in most kitchens, not staged as it is in glossy food mags.
Here’s a pet peeve of mine, tho. In the photo with the beans, is that a piece of paper on the rangetop? I know just the area under the pan is hot, but still-it’s close enough to the heat to scorch and it’s a bad example for the kids. We were always ‘cooking with gas’ so it was more of a hazard for us, but it was a hard and fast rule that nothing went on the surface of the stove that wasn’t a pot or pan and certainly nothing flammable. Especially with little ones in the house, they do what they see. Not trying to be critical, Trent, just want to keep the babes safe.

By: David

David — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:38:46 +0000

You might want to consider fresh cilantro for this dish, it’s cheap and has way more flavor.