Mediterranean Burritos

Ok, this is mostly my own idea and recipe, which is kinda cool to me. Although I think Lindyloo's recipe probably subconsciously influenced me to use couscous instead of rice. Anyhow,
I was making one of my favorite breakfast dishes last weekend (Ethiopian ful) when I came across an idea-since I am cooking these fava beans to be like refried beans, why not use them to make a burrito? I also figured that using a food processor would be much quicker as the beans are already cooked in the can. Ok, so I use pita bread and not a tortilla, so it's not really a burrito-but it's part of the Mediterranean theme so please do deal with it. This is not a fancy meal. It's easy and convenient and I use the microwave. It's also got fresh veggies and low in fat if you don't use too much olive oil or tahini. All week I had been thinking about what to put in the burrito and what I came up with is this:

Ingredients

1 can cooked fava beans (use the liquid in the can if you want-I did)

1/2-1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5-6 full (not cut in half) Pita bread rounds-white or whole wheat ( I used white out of necessity)

chopped onion ( I used yellow) a small one is probably plenty

chopped or sliced fresh tomatoes (if you dare) I put 2 cherry tomatoes sliced in half on each burrito

cooked couscous -maybe 2 servings worth? I always cook the whole box and refrigerate leftovers(whole wheat or white-I used white because the store had no whole wheat)

fresh spinach leaves

Tahini/Sesame butter

ground cumin to taste

chili powder to taste

fresh or dry mint leaves-add to personal preference



Directions:

Prepare couscous according to the instructions on your box-if you buy in bulk, I assume you know the water to couscous ratio-because I don't. Set aside.

Pour the can of fava beans (with liquid if desired) into a food processor. Add olive oil. I used about a capful. You may need more if you don't use the liquid in the can. Add cumin and chili powder to taste. I added just a sprinkling of each. You could add more, but I didn't want the flavor too much like ful. Process until the mixture looks like refried beans. Set aside. If you don't have a food processor you could make the refried beans the way it's done here

Warm pita bread in the microwave to soften it up a bit-maybe 10 seconds each round. Mine still wanted to break when I folded it up so who knows-experiment.

Spread some of the fava bean mixture on one half of a pita round-leave the other half empty. Spoon some couscous on top of it. You can add the tomato, onion and spinach now and heat it up in the microwave (for about 25-30 seconds) or add the veggies later and microwave the fava bean-couscous on the pita first. After the veggies are added and the burrito is heated up you can add some mint to it. I added maybe one chopped fresh mint leaf per burrito. I don't even know if that's right-maybe I should have used dried, but I didn't-I used fresh. Drizzle with tahini. Tip-after stirring tahini with a butter knife I pulled the knife out of the jar and it just naturally drizzled over the burrito. Fold up the empty half of the pita so it now looks like a pita taco. Enjoy.

Note-this is a burrito recipe and burritos are pretty flexible with what you put on them. You could use rice instead of couscous. A tortilla instead of pita bread. You could add black olives, hot sauce, you can omit things, whatever. There is even a vegan feta cheese recipe floating out there somewhere. Probably the only necessity here is the refried fava beans.

A Recipe Idea - Pineapple Coconut Milk Ice Cream

An idea more than an actual recipe unfortunately. From the moment I bought my ice cream maker I wanted to make a pineapple-coconut sorbet or ice cream. I had bought some pineapple juice that only had a couple days left on it and no recipe I found made use of both pineapple juice and coconut milk. So, I just did it myself.

Ingredients:

Coconut Milk (at least one can)
100% Pineapple Juice
Pure Cane Sugar
Lime Juice (optional)

Basically, I put some coconut milk, pineapple juice and sugar in a bowl. I used a hand mixer for one minute to dissolve the sugar in the mixture. Then I tasted the mixture and added more coconut milk or pineapple juice until the combo tasted the way i wanted. Then I added a touch of lime juice-oops. Even though I used only a capful or so it was more potent than anticipated which caused me to add more milk, sugar, and juice until I restored my preferred flavor balance. Once achieved I simply put it in my ice cream maker until it was thickened and then placed in freezer.

I waited until the next morning to try it and it was fantastic. Most ice creams from the machine need a little defrosting prior to eating-this one does not. Spooned it right out. Nice and firm and creamy, but not TOO hard, so you can have instant gratification. I suspect this might have to do with the coconut milk. This was good plain or in a sugar cone. It was also fantastic with a simple raspberry sauce that I had leftover from my raspberry almond flan. I will have to find the raspberry sauce recipe. Anyhow, that's it-my first sort recipe posting. Sorry I can't be specific on quantities-I should have kept track how much I put in. Anyhow, experimenting is part of the fun anyway.