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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

on the lighter side...

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It was inevitable. The orgy of consumption that surrounded my birthday had to come to an end. And that end was yesterday, marked by a foray into bean quesadillas.

So really, I guess that makes it not so much an end....as a beginning (or renewal?) of healthy, tasty eating. And I think my system will be thankful. :)

Quesadillas are fast, easy and offer up a great weekday meal solution. I love them. I particularly love this one because it incorporates SO many tasty things - beans, coriander, garlic, tomatoes, corn and red pepper. It's a complete meal and is super tasty.

I enjoyed it with a little sour cream and hubs and I were ecstatic to enjoy it al fresco on our BRAND NEW PATIO. WOOT!!!!!!!! This is the first time we've eaten outside in the three years we've lived in our house (also shocking is that our house is 45 years old and no one ever bothered to put in a patio, deck or ANY sort of hardscaping. But oh well.

It was great outside. If I weren't trying to trim down, it would also be fab with margaritas. And lots of tequila.

I stole this from www.cookinglight.com and made a few modifications to spice 'er up.

Black Bean Quesadillas with Charred Corn Salsa

Quesadillas:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 t ancho chile powder (randomly found mine at the Butchery in Ottawa)
1/2 t cumin

4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
Cooking spray
3/4 cup (3 ounces)shredded cheese

Salsa:
1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 t sea salt

To prepare the quesadillas, preheat the broiler.
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, 1/2 cup cilantro, beans and spices; cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally.

Ancho chile powder is very tasty:
ancho chile powder

And all the steam made my pic here look a little funny:
bean stuffing for quesadillas

2. Place tortillas on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Top each tortilla with 1/2 cup bean mixture and 3 tablespoons cheese; fold in half.

cheese and beans

3. Lightly coat tops with cooking spray (my cooking spray is empty so I just brushed with a bit of olive oil).

quesadillas brushed with olive oil

4. Broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts and tortillas begin to brown. Let sit for a few minutes. Cut each tortilla into 3 wedges. The top gets all toasty and is SO yummy. If you're a little less freaked about calories, flip the tortilla over, brush the opposite side and re-broil. :)

To prepare salsa:
1. Pre-heat a medium skillet (dry) and toast corn until lightly blackened.

charred corn and coriander

2. Add remaining ingredients Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve with quesadillas.

black bean quesadillas with charred corn salsa

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 quesadilla wedges and about 1/3 cup salsa)

CALORIES 420 (31% from fat); FAT 14.4g (sat 5.5g,mono 6.4g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 17.8g; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 272mg; SODIUM 590mg; FIBER 10.3g; IRON 4.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 60g

4 comments:

Janet said...

These look so good. I also make quesadillas a lot at home - the kids love them, but usually only with chicken or beef. This is a great alternative! Thanks!

Congrats on your patio! I love eating outside... we live in a new house, and don't have one yet :(

Anonymous said...

Made this on the weekend - so good that I'll be making it again today! Yay!

eviedee said...

This looks like a lovely variation of an absolute favorite of mine. I always cook my quesedillas on the stovetop(without oil) in a cast iron skillet. I can flip it halfway through cooking to make it nice and toasty without the extra calories. Love your blog, I've found so much food inspiration here today!

Creative Classroom Core said...

These look tasty! They have inspired me to make (and write!) about my own! I love the salsa you made, and will need to try er out!

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