Creative Quesadillas
From simply cheese to fully loaded, appetizer to main meal, quesadillas rock.
- 4 8-inch flour tortillas
- 1 8-ounce package shredded Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Co-Jack cheese, divided
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Coat each tortilla generously with cooking spray and place sprayed side down on a large baking sheet.
Sprinkle ½ cup of cheese evenly over each tortilla.
Bake for five minutes or until lightly browned. Fold in half and cut each quesadilla into two or three wedges with a pizza wheel.
Garnish with your favorite toppings.
Tortilla variations: Substitute corn tortillas or gourmet (spinach or tomato) flour tortillas for the traditional flour tortillas.
Filling and topping variations: Anything goes, from traditional to extraordinary, whatever ingredients and combinations you can dream up! Raid your pantry or your refrigerator for delectable leftovers and the deli, dairy, and prepared food sections of your supermarket.
Sprinkle the filling over half of the cheese and prepare as directed above.
Fold other half of the tortilla over the fillings to seal the deal.
- Refried beans or black beans (lightly mashed with a fork)
- Sour cream
- Salsa, salsa verde
- Guacamole
- Sliced or chopped olives
- Diced pimiento
- Sliced jalapeno pepper
- Minced green chilies
- Any spreadable, shredded, or crumbled cheese (like cream cheese, Swiss, feta, gorgonzola, or goat cheese)
- Leftover cooked rice
- Cooked vegetables (like spinach, mushrooms, Grilled Portobello Mushrooms, broccoli, corn, canned diced tomatoes)
- Sliced or diced tofu
- Cooked meats, poultry, or seafood (like marinated flank steak, cut-up chicken or turkey, grilled shrimp, or smoked salmon)
- Shredded or shaved deli meats (like roast beef, turkey, ham)
- Fresh cilantro sprigs
- These quesadillas are baked rather than fried, for easy large-scale preparation. For a single serving, it is probably most convenient to cook the quesadilla in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, following the same assembly instructions.
© Cynthia Stevens Graubart & Catherine Fliegel, R.N. 2005
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