Loaded Fish Finger Burritos – Bariatric Pantry + Recipe 6

I had genuinely hoped that we might have been out of lock-down or quarantine by now – and even though here in the UK things are easing, we still have a few strict measures in place which means some food shopping is still fraught for many. Yesterday saw the opening of some ‘non-essential’ stores in the UK, but I confess to being a ‘stay-at-home’ for now – I shall continue to do my bit with some on-line shopping but don’t want to face the queues for now.

My on-line food shop, with the occasional visit to a farm shop, still provides us with much of what we need, plus some fresh bits (mainly herbs and salad) from the kitchen garden and I almost pray at the ‘big white God’ – the freezer – in appreciation with what it stores.

So I still linger there and conjure up a meal from the icy depths. Many are based on my regular ‘stow-aways’ – minced/ground beef, chicken thighs, fish fillets etc but occasionally I come across something ready-prepared that gets the grey matter thinking.

Yesterday I came across some fish fingers which I think I purchased for some of the younger members of the family and thought they would make a great fishy filling for something. They were lightly panko-coated chunky ones from Youngs. Burritos was the answer and I used to make some loaded ones with a can of taco beans, some frozen sliced mixed peppers, cooked rice (or grains) and tortilla wraps for our family main meal. They were delicious and so I offer the recipe to you as quick time and cost-saving idea for a lock-down or quarantine meal option.

My fish fingers had minimal coating and I would recommend that you do look for chunky or ‘meaty’ ones to keep the carbs in proportion, of course you could always just add cooked and flaked fish instead. Likewise omit the rice or grains from your WLS portion if you find your toleration of them is poor. And again, omit the tortilla if your appetite is small or you’re early to post-op solid-food eating.

As an aside, any leftover wraps can be cut into pieces (triangles perhaps) spritzed with low-fat cooking spray or mist and baked until crisp to serve with a dip for lunch the next day.

Hopefully we’ll all get out much more soon …

LOADED FISH FINGER BURRITOS

Ingredients

METRIC/US

4 chunky frozen fish fingers (or about 8-10 smaller ones) – see intro for ones I used

4 tortillas wraps (type to suit – I used Carbzone low-carb ones)

low-fat cooking spray or mist

1 large onion, finely sliced

250 g/8 oz frozen sliced mixed peppers

395 g/14 oz can taco mixed beans

¼ tsp crushed red chillies (optional)

large handful baby spinach leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

about 8 tbsp frozen cooked rice or grains (reheated until warm – I used the microwave)

Method

Cook the fish fingers in the oven according to the packet instructions, adding the tortillas for the last 5 minutes to warm through.
Meanwhile, spritz a pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until soft. Increase the heat, add the peppers and stir-fry for 5 minutes.
Stir in the beans and chillies if used – cook for 2 minutes to heat through. Stir in most of the spinach and allow to wilt. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, spoon the rice or grains into the centre of each wrap and spoon over the bean mixture. Slice the fish fingers into pieces and pile on top. Scatter with the remaining spinach leaves then roll up and cut in half to serve.