Baby* Burritos

Feeling a little lazy but not frozen-pizza or takeout lazy, I decided to make some homemade burritos for dinner.  Truth be told, John and I enjoyed a delicious late night meal at California Tortilla over the weekend after having had a few beers, and I thought this would be a good experiment in recreating that flavor.

Since everyone has their own version of what goes into a proper burrito, I thought I'd wing it by buying the basics (beans!) and using whatever else I had on hand at home for the rest.  The filling was basically a mixture of refried beans (with green chiles), black beans, green onion, tomatoes, shredded cheese, hot salsa (Green Mountain Gringo brand - an easy way to get some extra veggies and also jalapenos in there), and either grilled chicken (for me) or scrambled eggs (for part-time veggie, John).

The most exciting ingredient ended up being a special sauce I created as an attempt to replicate J.T. Pappy's Gator sauce -- a deliciously tangy and spicy sauce I discovered by chance during one of my early visits to the overwhelming sauce shelf at California Tortilla. I now realize that the gator sauce is nothing more than selected cracked mustard seed, red ripe tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire (no anchovy), blended sugar, triple pepper blend, molasses, soy sauce, natural spices and herbs, though it was more fun to make up my own version.

My sauce consisted of the following: about 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing, about 6 heavy shakes of tabasco sauce, and about a teaspoon of Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce.  I didn't measure anything; I just grabbed a bowl and mixed in what I thought looked right. After stirring it up and giving it a taste, it turned out my guessed ratios were perfect and just what I wanted - a little sweet, a little spicy, and, well, who doesn't love a little ranch flavor?

The special, now not-so-secret sauce complemented the burritos perfectly and I'll be sure to keep it on hand for the next burrito night... after all, it's a quick, easy, cheap and very tasty homemade dinner!

*I called these baby burritos because I used medium-sized tortillas rather than the recommended jumbo size for real burritos. Once everything got rolled up and tucked in, it made for a pretty small burrito..or more like a giant taquito. It was compact and easy to eat, but I definitely had to go back for seconds!

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