Naked Salsa Verde Pork Burritos

You know a recipe is going to be fun when it has "naked" in the title! For our dinner tonight, we left the tortillas behind so we could prepare these Naked Salsa Verde Pork Burritos!

Instead of using that starchy wrapping, the pork filling is rested upon a version of Mexican rice, which is a little more involved than cooking your rice simply in broth or water. We took the fragrant grains of basmati rice and heated them first in a slick of canola oil until they were lightly toasted. A pureed mixture of plum tomatoes, onion and garlic are then poured into the rice and left, giving the sauce a chance to cook briefly. Enough vegetable broth (or water if you wish) is then poured in to finish cooking the rice through.

Now that the rice was taking care of itself, we moved on to the filling by smashing lean ground pork in a hot skillet to crumble and cook the meat through. To mimic the rice, chopped onion and more garlic are tossed in to soften, along with a few pinches of cumin and oregano to season. Pinto beans are added to the mix, bulking up the filling with protein and fiber, with salsa verde thrown in to add moisture and a tangy zing. Just before this was ready, we tossed in a bit of chopped cilantro to freshen up the filling with a bright note.

When the rice looked like most of the of the liquid had been absorbed, we took the pot off the heat and left it alone for about 5 minutes - this gives the rice a chance to settle down a bit before plunging a fork in to fluff and loosen the individual grains. After spooning the now tinted rice on the plates and adding a healthy portion of the meaty filling in the center, we dropped a simple dollop of mashed avocado, laced with fresh lime juice and a single green onion, for a cooling condiment on top.

While I'm sure this would have been just fine wrapped up in a tortilla, leaving it out of the picture and serving it as a layered dish added to its composed attractiveness and let what would have been a hidden filling be the stars of the show. I've never prepared rice in this fashion and I can see why those extra steps are worth doing to infuse those subtle flavors right each grain. If you don't care for the version with green salsa we used, don't let me stop you from using your favorite red - you may want to add some green chiles for a little pep though.

Recipes
Naked Salsa Verde Pork Burritos