Tony Horton's Famous Vegan Burritos
Monday, January 24, 2011Most of you know that I cook for that crazy guy, Tony Horton, creator of the phenomenal workout system P90X and some of you may be wondering, who the heck is this Tony Horton guy? Well, if you don't know, you are missing out. And if you want to find out, go here: Tony Horton's World and check him out!
Is this guy really 52?? No way!!!
Yes, that's right, the guy is 52 and in better shape than anyone I know. The reason: consistent exercise 6 days a week and a CONSISTENT CLEAN DIET, which is mostly plant-based! Horton calls himself a "Flexitarian", which means that he eats mostly a plant-based diet 90% of the time but will have the occasional fish, eggs or free-range, organic chicken if he is out and about and there are no other options. Otherwise, he keeps it clean; very little sugar (only in the form of agave, honey or brown rice syrup), no gluten, no dairy, very minimal processed foods and tons of WHOLE, FRESH food! This is how you get and STAY healthy! You can exercise your butt off, but if you aren't putting the proper nutrients into your body, your efforts are worthless. Did you know eating certain foods can help to ward off cancer and disease?? Yes, you heard me. So why not eat healthy? Why take a risk just to have some "fun". And why is it that we equate bad food to having fun? I have plenty of fun eating my Organic Nectars Raw & Vegan Gelato, or even my Kale with Tahini over Quinoa..delicious!
Anyway, back to why I am here...the famous Vegan Burritos I created for Tony, that are his staple food and loaded with nutrients & flavor. And, guess what? They are simple to make too!
Simple & Fresh Ingredients
So here we go:
- 2 TBL. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, deseeded & sliced into thin strips
- 1 Yellow bell pepper, deseeded & sliced into thin strips
- 1 Red onion, thinly sliced into 1/2 moons
- 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
- 1 -15oz can organic black beans, or 1-1/2 cups cooked
- 1-15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 TBL chili powder blend
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 c. quinoa or brown rice, cooked
- 1 pkg. gluten free brown rice tortillas (Food for Life Brand), or sprouted grain tortillas (Ezekial Brand)
Extras (optional) Avocado, Tempeh Bacon, Daiya Cheese or Wayfare foods We Can't Say it's Cheese Mexican Cheese spread (YUMMY)
To Prepare:
Rinse quinoa or brown rice, and prepare according to package directions.
While quinoa/rice is cooking, heat 1 TBL of the Olive oil in a large skillet. Add peppers & onions and sauté until soft – about 3-5 minutes. Add zucchini, cumin, chili powder and sea salt and continue cooking for 2 more minutes, stirring to incorporate all the spices with the peppers & onions. Add tomatoes and stir to mix. Lower heat and cover, cooking for about 5 minutes until peppers are really soft. Remove from heat. Add beans to pan and stir to incorporate.
To Assemble:
Heat tortilla shell over low open flame on stove to soften. Place the tortilla on a flat surface. Spread a very small amount of Daiya cheese (if using) over entire tortilla. Add 1 scoop of pepper, onion & bean mixture to bottom 1/3 of tortilla. Top with 1 scoop of quinoa or rice. Add avocado (optional) or tempeh bacon and roll it up! (If you are using the Gluten-Free tortillas, it's best to roll each burrito made to order.)
Softening a Rice Tortilla on an open flame (ignore smudge on stove)
Peppers, Zucchini & Onions Oh My!
Ready to Rock and ROLL!!!
Reader Comments (24)
I love your reciepes but it would be really helpful if you could inclue the nutritional content. Is it available anywere?
Cheers
Martin
This sounds delicious! I love finding (and creating) new meat-free recipes. I am working on a cookbook (to be released next year) of healthy, great-tasting recipes - if it doesn't taste great - who wants to eat it!! This is something I came up with recently:Black Bean Croquettes with Creamy Hummus Sauce http://doitthehardway.com/blog/?p=361 I hope you'll try it and let me know what you think.
One comment regarding this recipe. I always use canned foods (tomatoes, beans, etc) with no salt added and I don't add salt to any of my recipes. I'm always surprised when I see healthy recipes presented which include items that contain salt and then more added salt. What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Your recipes have given me hope again! I was just recently diagnosed with Celiac disease and I was finding it impossible to eat things that I enjoyed (and some gluten free cookbooks really push meat, which I eat as sparingly as I can; or list ingredients that I can't find anywhere!!). Your recipes are fun and healthy for me! This recipe looks delicious and as soon as the snow stops here, I plan on heading out to the store to grab the ingredients! Thank you again!
Sounds delicious and photos look great ... I will definitely try this. (Now I'm really hungry!)
Thanks for the recipe, it looks amazing.
Tony, are you a full on vegan now? If so, you gotta tell Beachbody to make their shakes and recovery drink Whey free for us vegans! :) Great recipe - definitely trying it this week!
Will make this!! THank you
Great recipe -- thanks for sharing.
But I'm here to nitpick a bit.
Regarding: "otherwise he keeps [his diet] clean: ... no gluten"
This has been getting under my skin a lot lately as I've been seeing it more and more. And it bothers me that someone like Tony Horton is instigating this trend. "Gluten-free" has nothing at all to do with healthier, better for you, cleaner, etc. Gluten is simply a protein found in most grains and, yes, when processed, is used as a thickening agent in many processed/packaged foods.
But simply put, there are no medical advantages of any sort to eating "gluten-free" -- unless, of course, you have a gluten allergy.
For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free
These look wonderful. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Looks like they are quick and easy to make too!
So I stayed true to my word and ran out and got the ingredients for this. Just made it up (which was super easy!)-- and OMG -- SOOOO delicious! and so healthy too!! Thanks again!!!
ElktoothChain:
Here is a good article on gluten.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/03/media-finally-starts-to-catch-on-to-gluten-free.aspx
This is an amazing recipe! We've made it back to back this week for dinner. The ease in making it is just what a busy Mom NEEDS! Thank you Missy.
Love these kinds of recipes and the fact that you and Tony are promoting, real, clean, healthy, vegan alternatives! Will definitely be sharing this on my Vegan P90Xers FB page too! They will love it! Thanks for all you do, Missy. <3
For those who have made these - how many burritos does the recipe make? I want to make these for the family for dinner tonight and need to know if I will need to double the recipe. Thanks.
Amy, I didn't put them into wraps, but instead did "burrito bowls" (all the stuff just thrown in a bowl) and I got 4 fulfilling servings out of it. Hope this helps!!!
I'm celiac and I hate how all these people are calling the gluten-free food thing "trendy". Maybe Tony Horton is gluten intolerant like some of us are and it makes him feel sluggish or ill. I say 2 thumbs up since I am also "flexitarian" and don't eat gluten. All the people saying the way I've been eating for the past 5 years is "trendy" can shut their trap. Love these burritos-they are delicious! Only thing I do different is I make my own tortillas since I find the rice ones are too stiff to wrap them up nicely.
I JUST made these and they are so good I had to post something on here. I can't believe how easy and quick it was to make, and I can't believe how AMAZING this tastes!!! I am new to vegan cooking and thought I would miss the meat in a burrito and I don't at all, they are so hearty and tasty!
Melissa: You are simply awesome. I'm 45 and tried to eat healthy all my life , but variety is a problem because I've tried to find recipes and make healthy stuff and quite frankly its not all that palatable, and the rest of the family won't eat what I make. S what happens I end up getting caught up returning to typical american food staples and feeling like crap. I made your kale and tahini and loved it and so did my 16 year old daughter. Thanks, cant' wait to try these burritos. In my mind you and your food are proof positive that Tony is the real deal and practices what he preaches. Thanks again. It would be awesome if you put out a cookbook. Getting Bring it just for the recipes. No need to sell me on exercise..
Outstanding 5-star burritos! Thank you again for sharing this and your other recipes that are so delicious!
Just made these this week. These are AMAZING and full of flavor! My wife, who is not a big onion or pepper fan, even loved these.
Awesome!!