Have you ever noticed that people tend to gravitate towards foods they enjoyed as a family? This is certainly correct for me. Take quesadillas, for example. I still remember going to an authentic mexican restaurant in Victoria where we enjoyed some delicious quesadillas. Sometime after that visit, my mom decided to learn how to make them at home, much to my pleasure. Since that time, quesadillas have been a "go to" meal for us. That said, we have not had quesadillas since going off wheat and most gluten products two years ago. There are recipes for gluten-free tortillas, but I have not tried them yet. Perhaps you can imagine my delight to come across these at Walmart this week:
Tortillas are incredibly versatile, making them perfect for pizzas with a very thin crust, burritos, wraps, or quesadillas. In our home, I encourage our teenage daughter to make her school lunches ahead of time and tortillas are a great help for this. Her plan this year is to try quesadillas with refried beans, cheese, and red peppers. And just so you know, when we do a big batch of quesadillas, we bake them in the oven. Ah, but I digress...
Fillings for quesadillas are limitless. Use whatever you have on hand. After enjoying a birthday meal of raclette, we had leftover cheese, peppers, and shrimp, which were perfect for using in the quesadillas. You can use whatever you like: cooked meat of any kind, sauteed vegetables of any kind, cheese, seasonings and spices, etc.
You can see that I assembled the quesadilla on a plate prior to putting it into a frying pan. This is not necessary as you can assemble the ingredients once the tortilla is in the frying pan. Again, if you are doing a great quantity (for school lunches, etc.), I find it useful to put all of the wraps onto a clean counter or island before assembling them. This helps to ensure even distribution of ingredients. Typically I put a layer of grated cheese (although you can see that I had pieces of cheese to use), sauteed vegetables, meat, and then another layer of cheese.
You can distribute the cheese and ingredients over the entire tortilla or on one side as I have done. Cook over medium heat. You will notice the cheese melting. Using a spatula, fold the tortilla in half. At this point, you can carefully flip it over. Repeat if necessary. It is ready when lightly browned on both sides.
Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or whatever you might like
As I mentioned, the ingredients I used were what I had on hand. The shrimp was cooked and had been marinating in olive oil and garlic plus seasoning. The peppers were marinating in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and oregano. This is definitely an opportunity to get creative and see what you have on hand to use.
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