MasterChef Junior's Roen Guerin Taught Us a Thing or Two About Burritos
Happy birthday, Roen Guerin! The MasterChef Junior contestant turns thirteen today. To celebrate, he stopped by our test kitchen—clad in his trademark MasterChef apron and a killer pair of high-tops—and cooked up a black bean burrito. It’s the same one he likes to make for his school lunches. Well, sometimes his mom makes it: “I hate getting up early,” he told us. We can relate.
Roen, who lives in Brooklyn, has been cooking for seven years. (He’s pretty sure the first thing he made was a hot dog bun.) He’s picked up some great tricks along the way—to core an apple, he made deft use of a melon baller—and now he’s happy to share his burrito recipe. Paired with an apple and some chocolate-covered wafers, it makes for a great lunch no matter how old you are.
Roen’s Black Bean Burrito with Cherry Tomato and Scallion Salsa
Makes one burrito
1 flour tortilla (burrito size)
1 can black beans
1 piece of sharp cheddar cheese
1 avocado
1 box cherry tomatoes
1 bunch scallions
1 iceberg lettuce
Olive oil
White balsamic vinegar
Salt
Hot sauce (optional)
See the slideshow above for step-by-step instructions.
1/8- Drain the beans and warm them in a saucepan over medium heat for two or three minutes.
2/8- Finely chop a few cherry tomatoes—as many as you’ll want in your salsa—and put them in a bowl with white balsamic vinegar to taste.
3/8- Chop the scallions and add them to the salsa; mix it up.
4/8- Cut the iceberg lettuce—again, using as much or as little as you’d like—into strips.
5/8- Over low heat, warm the tortilla in pan for one and a half minutes. “I usually like it really crunchy, but it can be hard to roll,” Roen says. While it’s warming, grate some cheese.
6/8- Peel and cut half an avocado. Roen makes sure to peel his in one big piece to keep it easier to chop.
7/8- Time to build this burrito. Put the beans in first, off to one side to make rolling easier later. Sprinkle on the cheese next, and then add avocado and lettuce. Last comes the salsa; Roen likes to top that off with a dash of hot sauce. “Something sweet and spicy” works best, he says—he used El Yucateco’s chipotle sauce.
8/8Voila! A lunch fit for a king—or a student. In a rush? The salsa and all the prep can be done the night before; just warm up the tortilla and put it together in the morning. Roen recommends wrapping the burrito in Saran Wrap, which will let it marinate in the hours before lunchtime.
