Spinach Fest 2008- Spinach Quesadillas

Boy, you'd think I'd married Popeye the sailor man what with all these spinach recipes in a row. And I even have one more in my pocket! This is a little something I whipped up a couple weeks ago. I had one night open on my menu plan that I just couldn't think to fill. I wanted something that would be really easy to put together, so I decide I would just come up with some kind of quesadillas. I decided on using chopped spinach and black beans for my filling, along with some cheese of course. These were really great! I think I might make a batch to tuck into the freezer for emergency meals. I can't remember now what I served with them, aside form our usual salad. I think we just had some chips & salsa with them. I would have liked cilantro-lime rice, but I think cilantro and peppers were off the shelves at the time.

Spinach Quesadillas
Recipe by me; Makes 6












6 wheat flour tortillas
1 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 4.5 oz. can chopped green chiles
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
Ground cumin
Shredded cheese- I used cheddar and pepper jack
Olive oil

• Mix the drained beans, spinach, and chiles together in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and cumin to taste.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat. Rub surface with paper towel dipped in olive oil. Place one tortilla into the pan. Top with shredded cheese. Once the cheese starts to melt place about 1/3 cup of the filling on one half of the tortilla. Gently fold the tortilla over the filling and press down. Let sit for a moment on each side of the tortilla to warm the filling through and finish melting the cheese. Remove quesadilla from pan and repeat process with remaining ingredients. Serve, cutting into wedges if you like.

My notes: The chile amount is a guess. Jalapeños were hard to come by, and I had a 7 oz. can of chopped green chiles, of which I used half or more. And the cumin I really did just sprinkle liberally over the filling, so just use your personal judgment. I love using wheat tortillas to make quesadillas this way. They are a little sturdier than white flour tortillas, so the don't tend to split when folded or become soggy from cheese or fillings. What are you favorite quesadilla fillings?

Zucchini Quesadillas

Yeah, couldn't come up with a more clever title for this entry. Not that my other titles are all that clever either, ha. Anyway, this has been a hectic weekend, involving very little cooking outside of some pigs-in-blankets for Josh's birthday breakfast, and some bacon and eggs yesterday morning. I rarely cook breakfast, but that's all that I've made the past couple days. And Josh and I will be leaving for vacation in a few days. I didn't have anything new to post so I went looking for a recipe that I hadn't written about yet and remembered these Zucchini Quesadillas. This is another one of those first recipes, one of the earliest recipes I tried when we decided to eat a bit healthier. Because of that I don't have a good pic of it, so I borrowed one from Martha here.

Zucchini Quesadillas
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4















4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Salt
4 cloves garlic , minced
2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup frozen corn kernels (4 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 cups grated pepper jack cheese

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute more.
• Add zucchini and frozen corn kernels; cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, if using.
• Brush one side of all tortillas with remaining tablespoon oil; lay 2 tortillas, oiled side down, on a baking sheet. Place half of the filling on each, and sprinkle with half the cheese. Place remaining 2 tortillas on top, oiled side up; press down gently with a spatula to seal.
• Bake until cheese has melted and tortillas are golden brown, turning once, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, slice each quesadilla into wedges.

My notes: I've never been able to turn these quesadillas without creating a big mess. The last time I made them I didn't even bother trying and they still came out great. And while this recipe is supposed to serve 4, Josh and I are piggies and eat a whole quesadilla each. Mmmm.