Black Bean Quesadillas with Goat Cheese

Last weekend we went down to NYC to attend a free Kids Food Festival in Bryant Park, which was sponsored in part by Cooking Light and the James Beard Foundation.  We could have bought tickets to see cooking demos, from chefs like Ellie Krieger and Jehangir Mehta.  Unfortunately, at $20 a ticket, I didn't think they were quite old enough to really appreciate seeing the chefs or eat what they were making.....maybe next year!  But we had lots of fun going to different booths and trying different snack foods, getting their booklets stamped, and dancing with "Baby Loves Disco."  I wish the weather was a little warmer because we would have stayed longer.  There were several free demonstrations and performances, but since the festival was outside, it was a bit chilly.  We ended up leaving after about two hours and met up with my brother-in-law, who lives down in the city and went out to lunch.  Before we left, we had watched a demo from cookbook author Katie Workman, who made tacos and edamame. Workman was pointing out that tacos are a great kid-friendly food because kids can help prepare the ingredients and then choose what they want to put on their own tacos.  My go-to quick Mexican type meal though is quesadillas.  There are so many different combos you can make, both with meat or without, like this version. 

I don't know if it's a texture thing or what, but I don't like most types of beans.  Only over the past year or so have I started liking black beans.  But have I mentioned how much I LOVE goat cheese?  I think I'd like these, even if I didn't like black beans, because goat cheese makes everything taste better!  Really though these quesadillas were super tasty!  My son loves all kinds of cheese and black beans....so he liked these.  My daughter on the other hand does not really like cheese.  She's usually really good about eating what she needs to to get a treat, and she ended up eating three pieces of this quesadilla.  I served this with yellow rice and some veggies to complete the meal.

Black Bean Quesadillas with Goat Cheese
recipe from Cooking Light, June 2001

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (19-ounce) can black beans, undrained
1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 (4-ounce) package goat cheese, crumbled
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup salsa

Directions:
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa, cumin, and beans, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or until thick. Mash the bean mixture slightly with a potato masher. Remove from heat; stir in the cilantro and goat cheese.

Spread the bean mixture evenly over 4 tortillas; top each with 1 tortilla, pressing gently.

Heat 1/4 teaspoon olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 quesadilla, and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Repeat the procedure with the remaining olive oil and quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges. Serve with fat-free sour cream and 1/2 cup salsa.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

This post is shared at:
Foodtastic Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes
Tasty Thursdays @ The Mandatory Mooch
Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

The Weekend Chef: BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

This is a recipe that I had planned on making and had my husband, a.k.a., "The Weekend Chef" make us for dinner last weekend.  We haven't had a quesadilla in awhile, especially since our quesadilla maker broke.  There wasn't a lot of cooking to this recipe, but more of a lot of prep work.  The kids love pineapple.  Mixed with the chicken and bbq sauce this ended up being a sweet and tasty quesadilla.  We all enjoyed it a lot!  And really, all the quesadilla maker does is cut the tortilla and semi-seal the filling into little triangle pieces. 

BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas
recipe from Kate's Recipe Box via Jenny's Cooking Journey

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup diced pineapple
1cup jalapeno jack cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
8 large tortillas

Directions:
In a small frying pan, brown the chicken pieces over medium heat. When cooked through, add in barbecue sauce and stir to coat. Remove chicken to a small bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add pineapple to pan and cook until warmed through. Remove to a small bowl.

On a skillet, place a tortilla. Cover with a layer of the cheeses and top with chicken and pineapple. When the cheese starts to melt, place second tortilla on top. When browned on the bottom, flip over.

Remove to a cutting board and let cool for 3 minutes before cutting.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up.

This recipe is shared at:
Church Supper @ Everyday Mom's Meals
Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Nap Time

Pepper Jack Chicken and Peach Quesadillas

My parents love to buy me small kitchen appliances that take up a lot of space.  We have a waffle maker, a quesadilla maker, and a chocolate fountain among many that are taking up real estate in our cabinets and closets!  Although many of the gadgets are rarely, if ever used, we do use our quesadilla maker a lot......or we did.  After I made this recipe, my husband was cleaning the quesadilla maker and ended up dropping it and it broke.  Quesadillas aren't too difficult to make in a pan, so I posted the original recipe with directions on making them in a pan.  This is the way I'll have to make them in the future because the kids love quesadillas!  They loved this recipe too!  The sour cream sauce was so tasty! Who knew that a little lime and honey could add so much flavor!  Quesadillas are a really quick and easy dinner to make.  Although the ingredient list is simple, these were really tasty.  I would definitely make these again since everyone love them so much.  I served them with yellow rice, which my son loves so much!

Pepper Jack Chicken and Peach Quesadillas
recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches
4 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Combine honey and lime juice in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir sour cream into honey mixture; cover and chill until ready to serve.

2. Place tortillas flat on a work surface. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese over half of each tortilla; top each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup peaches, and 1 teaspoon cilantro. Fold tortillas in half.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in the pan, and top quesadillas with a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are crisp and lightly browned (leave cast-iron skillet on quesadillas as they cook). Remove quesadillas from pan; set aside, and keep warm. Repeat procedure with the remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into wedges. Serve with sauce.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Meatless Monday: Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime Dipping Sauce

As I mentioned, the theme for our supper club was sauces.  I wanted a little appetizer that we could eat before we sat down for dinner.  I found this recipe and thought it sounded good.  I was a little nervous, since it isn't peach season and it was found in a "Summer Cooking" spotlight.  I bought the softest, ripest peaches I could find, but like one of the supper club members commented, marinating in the honey and lime both softened and sweetened the peaches up.  Let me tell you how much my kids loved this!  Although I do have to say they are BIG fans of lemon/lime (they enjoy sucking on/eating lemon slices), they were eating these up and spooning sauce all over their quesadillas!  We got to put our rarely-used quesadilla maker to use, so in the preparation, we didn't fold over the tortilla.  These are definitely best eaten hot, right off the pan/quesadilla maker! Unfortunately, my pictures do not do this dish justice!

Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime Dipping Sauce

Cooking Light, June 2005

Ingredients:

Sauce:
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lime rind

Quesadillas:
1 cup thinly sliced peeled firm ripe peaches (about 2 large)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon brown sugar
3 ounces Brie cheese, thinly sliced
4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
Cooking spray
Chive strips (optional)

Preparation:
To prepare sauce, combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

To prepare quesadillas, combine peaches, 1 tablespoon chives, and sugar, tossing gently to coat. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange one-fourth of cheese and one-fourth of peach mixture over half of each tortilla; fold tortillas in half. Coat pan with cooking spray. Place 2 quesadillas in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining quesadillas. Cut each quesadilla into 3 wedges; serve with sauce. Garnish with chive strips, if desired.

Note: Placing the fillings on one side of the tortilla and folding the other half over (like a taco) makes the quesadillas easier to handle. Whole wheat tortillas would also be great, offering a sweet, nutty taste. The lime-honey dipping sauce balances the richness of the buttery filling.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!


This recipe was shared at:

My Sweet and Savory

Meatless Mondays: Jack Quesadillas with Pear Salsa

I'm not a big pear fan.  They have a grainy texture that I don't like.  But I do like fruit salsas and quesadillas.  So, this seemed like a winning recipe.  We have a quesadilla maker that my parents gave us.  Although it rarely gets used, on busy weeknights it can make tasty quesadillas in minutes. I ended up enjoying the pear salsa.  Mixed with all of the other ingredients the pear didn't taste as grainy as eating it by itself.  My kids are big fruit lovers so they were willing to try the salsa.  They ended up eating it as a side, rather than on the quesadilla, itself, but did eat all that I had given them. If they had their choice though, they'd just eat a plain cheese quesadilla!

Jack Quesadillas with Pear Salsa
Cooking Light, January/February 2000

Pear salsa:
4 cups chopped peeled Anjou pear (2 pounds)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried mint
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

Quesadillas:
8 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preparation:
To prepare salsa, combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl; cover and chill.

To prepare the quesadillas, place 1 tortilla in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat, and top with 1/2 cup cheese. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons onions; top with a tortilla. Cook 3 minutes, pressing down with a spatula until cheese melts. Turn carefully, and cook until thoroughly heated (about 1 minute). Repeat procedure with the remaining tortillas, cheese, and green onions. Cut each quesadilla into sixths; serve with pear salsa.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.