Greek Burritos

Every so often on a weekday, Hubs and the tyke meet me for lunch. We sometimes meet a mall not too far from where I work. The mall is convenient and kid friendly. Normally, I'm not a fan of the selection at food courts, but this mall has a place that sells fantastic Greek food. Their menu is a mashup of traditional Greek and Mexican dishes, and one of my favorite things to eat is the Greek burrito. So naturally, I set about making a version at home.


Elly of Elly Says Opa! has fantastic recipes on her blog. She recently posted a recipe for Greek nachos, and the seasoned meat for those nachos looked like an easy way to replicate gyro meat for my burritos. I loved how the lamb turned out! I sometimes have difficulty finding ground lamb at the supermarket, so I used lamb shanks. It was easy to trim the meat and then grind it. If you're not a fan of lamb, ground beef would work well for the burritos.



Greek Burritos
meat recipe adapted from Elly Says Opa!

Lamb:
1 Tbs olive oil
¼ c finely diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 lb ground lamb (or beef)
1/3 c water
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp cloves

4 large flour tortillas
2 c cooked rice
¾ c crumbled feta cheese
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Quick tzatziki sauce (recipe below)

For the lamb: Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and heat through. Add onion, and cook until softened. Add garlic and tomato paste, and sauté until fragrant, another 2 minutes. Add lamb and brown. Drain some of the fat from the pan. Add water and spices, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stack tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Heat in microwave for about 30 seconds so they become pliable. Place some rice, meat, feta, cucumber, tomato, and tzatziki sauce on each tortilla. Fold ends up and roll.


Quick tzatziki sauce
adapted from Emeril Lagasse

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 c plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
1 tsp minced, fresh oregano
1 small garlic clove, minced

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Chill for at least 1 hour.