I have to admit, I've recently become addicted to steak burritos from a certain national burrito chain. Their steak is marinated in their special recipe chipotle pepper adobo marinade. A while back, I saw a dish on the food network that used Adobo seasoned chicken in a salad. The show host quickly listed the seasonings that were in her Adobo seasoning, but I didn't quite catch all of them. Her dish looked very tasty and sparked my curiosity about Adobo seasoning.
What exactly is Adobo? According to Wikipedia, Adobo is the Spanish word for seasoning or marinade. OK...so that's pretty general. More specifically, Adobo sauce is a sauce or marinade used in Latin American and Southwest U.S.-style cooking. After much searching and planning, I assembled a list of ingredients and went to work. I am really pleased with how it turned out, so I wanted to share it with you.
First, here's your shopping list:
1 can chipotle chilis (in adobo sauce)
lime juice
6-8 Roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno
fresh cilantro
small red onion
6oz. can tomato paste
1 can of corn (I used Green Giant crisp niblets. You could also use frozen.)
2lbs. sirloin (I used tip pan steak.)
romaine lettuce
rice (I used basmati.)
Mexican blend shredded cheese
Other condiments that you likely will already have around the house, but should double check:
red wine vinegar
garlic
oregano
black pepper
salt
Once you have all of these ingredients, you're ready to get started. Finely chop 3 of the chipotle chilis. Place chipotles (plus any sauce that was on them) in a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Add 6Tbs of lime juice, 2Tbs of red wine vinegar, 1 clove minced garlic, 2tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Seal bag and mix ingredients thoroughly. Cut sirloin into ~½ cubes. Add to marinade and refrigerate for at least 1hr.
In the meantime, prepare the corn salsa and tomato salsa. Chop the tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro and red onion. Drain corn thoroughly and pour into small bowl. To the corn, add half of the jalapeno, half of the cilantro (1-2Tbs), and half of the red onion. Top with several Tbs of lime juice to taste. The corn salsa should be slightly sweet yet also have a bit of heat. In a separate bowl, combine the tomatoes and remaining jalapeno, cilantro and red onion. Top with several Tbs of lime juice and ~2Tbs. of tomato paste. Refrigerate both salsas until serving time.
Now its time to start putting it all together. Heat skillet over med-high heat. Add sirloin and cook until meat is completely browned. Reduce heat and simmer for ~5 more minutes. In the meantime, cooked rice is tossed with lime juice, cilantro and butter to taste. Layer lettuce, rice, meat, salsas and cheese in bowl. Top with sour cream if desired.
