This post is a part of  the mega Blogging Marathon and A-Z challenge. I have chosen ‘popular American dishes’ as my theme.

I was out of zucchini for some time, that’s why this post is coming up later than it should have. I have been out of grater for a longer time, so that is why you don’t see a zucchini fritter. I end up grating my fingers so I have never been a fan of the grater. Back home in Chennai, I used to grate using the food processor. Here in US, I decided against buying it. There is no space for any more appliances in the counter top. So I took the shortcut and tried pulsing it in a blender, but I ended up with a paste and not grated zucchini. I had to change tactics at the very last-minute, so burrito bowl with grilled zucchini instead of zucchini fritters. It’s popular in America, after all.

Chipotle, the Mexican restaurant, was one of the first places that we tried here after coming to US. We were really hooked onto it and pretty soon eating out started meaning eating at Chipotle. Burrito bowl is my son’s favorite food there. He even wanted to have his birthday dinner there that year. Its a lot like the Subway sandwich bar, where we pick what we want from the different choices available. It has rice and believe me, that makes a lot of difference for an Indian :D. The food quantity is huge and  my son can never quite finish his bowl, but he loves every mouthful. Its a healthy meal sans the sour cream and cheese. We don’t eat out a lot now a days, so have started preparing this meal once in a while at home itself. The restaurant version is a bit different from what we have here.  With the child growing everyday and his tastes in everything changing a lot, I didn’t know whether he would like this version of his favorite food. But thankfully it pased with flying colors despite the presence of rice in there.

This post is special in that its the last post of the alphabetical journey through popular American dishes. Fritter would have been a more American food than Burrito bowl, but its popular all the same. Thanks for joining me in this journey and hope you enjoyed it as much as I did :-).

Recipe source : The Pioneer woman

Ingredients:

• For the rice : 1 cup brown rice, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 garlic crushed, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, salt
• For black beans : 1 cup dry black beans, 1 clove garlic, 1 red pepper, 1 teaspoon chilli powder, 1 teaspoon cumin
• For veggie part : 1 zucchini, 1 corn
• For Salsa : 1 tomato, 1/2 red onion, 1 jalapeno, salt and pepper
• Additional : Grated cheese, sour cream, avocado slices

*Rice and the salsa can use some coriander leaves. I was out of it.

Method:

• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Add the crushed garlic and let it cook. Add it to the rice along with lemon juice and salt. Cook the rice according to package instructions. I was out of coriander leaves, else you can add it once the rice is done.
• Soak black beans overnight. Cook it with enough water to cover the beans, along with minced garlic, chopped red pepper, chili powder and cumin. I pressure cooked it for 5 whistles and then transferred to an open pan and cooked until it reached the consistency  (not runny) I was looking for.
• Prepare the veggies. Slice the zucchini into thick slices. Brush them with oil, add a pinch of salt. Add into a pan, cook both sides until brown. Take off the heat, dice them and set aside. Let the corn cook, turning sides until its grilled. It takes longer time than zucchini. With a knife, cut the kernel off the cob once grilled.
• For the salsa, chop everything into small pieces and mix well.
• For assembling, add a layer of rice in a bowl. Top it with black beans. Add grilled veggies on top and then some salsa. Add a spoon of sour cream, cheese and serve with some avocado slices. I placed everything in a bowl and let everyone mix it the way they wanted.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63