Big, fat, bursting-at-the-seams burrito --and this is just half of it.

Ever notice how you can eat more Tex-Mex food than seems like it ought to be possible? Sometimes it dawns on you that you went through three refills of the tortilla chip basket at El Lardo’s before the entrees even arrived. And, not that it counts as real food, but how many –and be honest– Taco Bell Value Menu items can you eat before you actually feel full?

And correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s twice that when no one’s watching, right?

The reason those foods leave you so unsatisfied is because they lack substance. The two tablespoons of tasteless filling in a take-out taco that’s plumped up with watery iceberg lettuce is no value; I don’t care which part of the menu it’s on.

One of the genius things about a real, homemade burrito is the fact that it’s ultra-quick food, and if it’s done right, it’s mucho filling. Just one of these hefty babies, and I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.

A full half cup of slow cooked black beans packs a wallop of fiber: 7 1/2 grams, which is as much as two apples. (Which would you rather eat?)

Grilling these overstuffed burritos on a griddle with non-stick spray makes them crunchy on the outside and lets the cheese melt into a gooey perfection. It’s like a cross between a burrito and a quesadilla. A burritodilla, if you will. Or maybe a quesadita?

I can’t think of a better use for your leftover slow-cooked refried beans, other than eating a just-cooked bowl on their own, of course.

Eat two. I dare you.

Grilled Overstuffed Black Bean Burrito Recipe

Ingredients:

6 large-sized tortillas (10″)
3 cups slow-cooked refried black beans, hot from the slow cooker or reheated
1 1/2cups shredded cheese (I used a 2% milk Mexican blend)
1/4 cup raw red onion, minced very fine
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped

Directions: Place 1/2 cup of refried black beans just below the middle of each tortilla. Top with cheese, onions, and cilantro. Fold in sides and then roll up tortillas, tucking in the ingredients tightly as you go. Coat a griddle or large skillet with non-stick spray and cook each burrito a few minutes on each side until golden brown, pressing down slightly with a spatula. Serves 6.

If you don’t have a griddle large enough to cook all or several of your burritos at once, wrap the cooked ones in foil to keep them warm while you cook the others. Serve with all the usual suspects: sour cream or thick Greek yogurt, sliced avocado, salsa, hot peppers. These also reheat like a dream in the microwave.

For whom does the Taco Bell toll? Not me.

Kale bruschetta gives leftover greens a higher purpose.

Why do leftovers have such a bad reputation? Well, it could be the sloppy way they get reheated, for one. Microwaving isn’t a cooking technique that does any food a favor, with the exception of, perhaps, frozen Hot Pockets (which aren’t very good straight out of the package.)

Even when home cooks attempt to whip up leftovers into something else, it’s often a something else that wouldn’t sound too tempting even if it weren’t made with yesterday’s dinner: hashes, casseroles, anything with the word surprise tacked on. (How much of a surprise can it be when you already had it for dinner yesterday?)

It doesn’t help that a lot of  leftovers may have been left over for a reason. If a meatloaf was only mediocre to begin with, meatloaf hash has nowhere to go but down.

That’s why it’s so exciting to launch a new category on Crock Tease just for using up your crock-pot leftovers. The Not-So-Sloppy Seconds recipes are just as good or even better than the recipes that inspire them, and you’ll want to slow cook up some of the original Crock Tease recipes to have leftovers on purpose for making them.

Slow Cooker Flowering Kale is the base recipe for this distinctly un-run-of-the-mill bruschetta. It combines the peppery bite of kale with a bit of aged Manchego. You’ve heard of the Man of La Mancha? Well, this is the cheese of La Mancha, and its rustic taste blends nicely with the slow-cooked kale.

If you don’t have, or can’t find, Manchego cheese, substitute fresh Parmesan, Romano, Pecorino, or Asiago. (If you can’t find any of those, then stop buying your groceries from the gas station or slap your cheesemonger –whichever applies.)

Bruschetta with Slow-Cooked Kale and Manchego Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup of slow-cooked kale , warmed (either reheated or straight out of the slow cooker if you just made it)
1-2 oz Manchego cheese, grated
1 loaf of crusty bread, sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Optional: Fresh minced garlic and balsamic vinegar

Directions: Brush each slice of bread with olive oil on both sides. Heat a griddle on top of the stove and grill the bread a few minutes until light brown on bottom, then flip over and top with a few pieces of kale and a sprinkling of Manchego cheese. Grill until cheese is melted, covering with a lid if necessary.

You may wish to add extra garlic and a few drops of balsamic vinegar to taste to your kale before topping, depending on how much seasoning you used in slow-cooking the kale.

See? Leftovers can be even better than the first round. Aren’t you glad it isn’t kale loaf?

Non-loaded Spanish rice, on the side with a chili relleno. (John Tannenberg, Creative Commons License)

Despite being a pretty inventive cook –I hardly ever make anything exactly the same way twice– it was ages before I even considered deviating from my mother’s way of making macaroni salad. To me, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, real mayo, and generous salt and pepper were the only way to make it. It’s still one of my favorite comfort foods, ice cold in a huge bowl, when I go to Mom’s house.

My sister took the Mom’s-way-is-the-only-way thing to an extreme when she decided to make cheesecake after moving out on her own. My mother made a cherry cheesecake pretty regularly, but my sister despised the cherries. She always gouged them out of the top and cast them aside.

When Heather bought the cherry pie filling to put on her own cheesecake, I questioned her motivation. “I thought you hated the cherries,” I said, puzzled. “I do,” she answered. “But I like picking them off.”

Old habits don’t just die hard. Sometimes they stubbornly refuse to die at all.

Cheesecake + cherries minus cherries = my sister's cherry cheesecake recipe. (Jetta Girl/Creative Commons)

Which brings me to Spanish rice. At my house growing up (where it usually came in a box, but that’s beside the point), it was a side dish. A simple, ordinary side dish that, in our mainstream American food household smacked slightly of the exotic. Like our ubiquitous cheese-sauced broccoli, canned peas, or instant mashed potatoes, it was distinctly a second-string accompaniment.

That’s why I was so surprised when I went looking for ideas for rice recipes and found so many food bloggers and commenters talking about Spanish rice being one of their favorite main dishes. Not only that, but in their families, they piled it high with toppings: sour cream, cheese, olives, chopped onions, chives. I was simply shocked, because it was completely unlike my growing-up experiences with Spanish rice.

I knew I had to try it. Not only did I want to experiment with moving my Spanish rice recipe from the skillet to the slow cooker, but it gave me an excuse to pile cheese on top of something.

This Spanish rice recipe calls for your favorite salsa, and that’s part of the beauty of it. That one, simple choice means you can customize it to your taste. Like spicy? Choose a spicy salsa. Tissue paper tongue? Go with mild. I like mine hot, but also super-chunky and tomato-ey. If you choose one that’s particularly chunky, you can get away with skipping the veggies in a pinch.

Adding toppings makes Spanish rice a hearty main dish. Who knew? Not the Robinson family.

Slow Cooker Loaded Spanish Rice Recipe

2 cups uncooked converted rice
2 cups water
2 cups your favorite salsa
1 medium pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 12 oz. bag sausage-style crumbles, thawed
Toppings of your choice: shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped raw onions, fresh cilantro, black olives, etc.

Directions: Spray crock of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Combine all ingredients (except toppings) and stir. Cook covered on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Add toppings if desired to make a main dish, or serve on the side with a Tex-Mex dinner.

Tips: Be sure you use a converted rice (like Uncle Ben’s), otherwise your cooking time will almost double. If you plan on being out for  a very long time, you can get away with plain white rice.

If you haven’t pre-thawed your crumbles, pack them into the slow cooker first and increase your cooking time by about 15 minutes. I usually put them straight into the fridge instead of the freezer and use them within a day.

Main dish Spanish rice may be old hat to your family, but I’m a new convert, and I’m singing its praises. No more Spanish rice on the side. This one belongs in your biggest bowl, enjoying its promotion.