Whenever I am trying to decide what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even a snack, I generally base it on my mood. After all, shouldn’t I eat what I feel like eating? No, this is not an excuse for you to overindulge yourself in eating something you might regret eating later on. Moderation and balance is key here! So, I decided to create a healthier alternative for Chipotle’s Burrito bowl. Plus, what if I told you that you could make the same crispy golden fries from McDonald’s at home? By making it at home, you can reduce the salt content and add your own flavours! I paired my fries with a honey garlic aioli with a dash of tangy hot sauce.
This is turned out to be an incredibly long blog post so I divided these recipes into two pages. Feel free to visit those recipe pages directly by clicking links below.
Chipotle Burrito Bowl or Salad Dupe
Ingredients:
- 3 corncobs
- 1 medium size red onion
- 10-15 beef rib eye rolled (you can also use leftover grilled skirt steak or chicken)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic paste
- dash of dried thyme, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ lime
- salt & pepper
- 1 ripe red tomato
- green onions/scallions (garnish)
- 1 avocado
- chili flakes
- chopped kale leaves
Procedure:
- In a medium sized pot, add the three corncobs and water. Then let the pot boil; remove the husks if they were not removed when you bought them before cooking them in boiling water
- While the corncobs are cooking, wash then chop the kale leaves into shreds; you can chop them smaller to make them easier to eat
- Then dice the red onion and tomato
- Set the diced onion and tomato aside, then start cut the rolled beef rib eye in smaller pieces (about and inch or so in length); if you are using another type of protein, just cut them in bite size pieces (about the size of your thumb)
- Once the corncobs are cooked (it should take around 10 minutes or so), drain the water and set it aside to cool
- In a small pan, melt the butter then start sautéing the red onions (sprinkle some salt to bring out the sweetness of the onions even more)
- Once you notice that the onions are starting to get caramelized add the dried thyme, paprika, cayenne, and cumin. Let the spices cook a bit before adding ¼ teaspoon of garlic paste
- Then add the beef rib eye or the protein you’re using for the dish
- Let the beef rib eye cook (if you’re using raw like me) or if you’re using a leftover protein, just sauté the meat well so that the onions and spices are mixed well with the protein
- You may notice that there are some browning on the pan, use ½ lime and squeeze the juice to deglaze the pan
- Season with some salt and pepper then set it aside once the beef rib eye is cooked; you can ignore the beef rib eye conditional if you’re using another protein that’s already cooked
- The corncobs should be cool enough at this point so we can start separating the kernels from the cob by running your knife from the tip to the bottom of the cob; you can cut the corncob in half first then separate the kernel to prevent yourself from getting cut with the knife. Tip: make sure that the bottom of the corncob is secure before running your knife through the cob
- In a medium size bowl, combine the corn kernels and the protein and onions mixture with the freshly diced tomatoes
- Then in a large bowl, you can start assembling by placing the kale first then the corn mixture
- I added diced avocadoes on top and a simple homemade guacamole (1/2 avocado, ¼ teaspoon garlic paste, chili flakes, lime juice, salt and pepper; mashed using mortar and pestle)
- Chop green onion/scallions for garnish
You can also add cooked black beans and quinoa (instead of rice) into the mix. I just didn’t have it in stock when I made this dish. Also, definitely add some fresh cilantro into the corn mix! Again, I didn’t have it in stock but would recommend putting it into the dish.
McDonald’s French Fries Dupe with Honey Garlic Aioli
Ingredients:
- potatoes (I usually use whatever I have in stock, but you can use russet potatoes or yukon gold if you want a specific kind)
- vegetable oil
- salt
This is a super easy recipe and you can cook crispy fries different ways. I chose going traditional and frying them TWICE! But you can bake them in the oven as well. The key to a fry that is crispy on the outside and soft inside is blanch frying. This is basically a fancy term for frying the cut potatoes for a few minutes (around 3-5 min) then taking them out to rest for a bit. Once you blanche fried the potatoes, you can actually freeze them then cook them later on. Of course, before putting them in a bag to freeze, let them cool for a couple of minutes.
Another tip when frying fries: washing the cut potatoes in cold water and letting them sit in the cold water for a few minutes. Once you drain the water, it removes some of starch from the potatoes. That’s important because it helps with preventing the potatoes to brown or burn quickly.
Honey Garlic Aioli:
This is the easiest and one of my go-to sauces of all time. You can use it for dipping or on a sandwich as a condiment.
Ingredients:
- salt & pepper
- mayo
- garlic paste (or roasted garlic for more flavour and depth)
- hot sauce (your choice!)
- honey
In a small bowl (or if you’re using roasted garlic you can use the mortar then the pestle to combine all the ingredients together) put 2-3 tablespoons of mayo, 1 teaspoon of garlic paste, 1 teaspoon honey, 3-4 squirts of hot sauce and salt & pepper to season. Combine all the ingredients together and you have your aioli! Sometimes, I add dried herbs as well to add more flavour; dried parsley or basil works well.
Enjoy! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below 🙂
Always,
–K
Always, Kaye 