Cheesy veggie quesadillas
Crispy golden tortillas, melty cheese and sweet peppers, done in half an hour with salsa for dipping.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $3.92 a serving
- 810 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 4 flour tortillas, 8-inch
- 1½ cups mexican blend cheese
- ½ cup salsa
- ¼ cup sour cream (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp salt
Each serving has about 810 calories, 31 g protein, 66 g carbs and 48 g fat, and costs about $3.92 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No flour tortillas? Whole wheat tortillas work.
- No mexican blend cheese? Shredded cheddar or cheddar cheese or monterey jack cheese works.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain greek yogurt works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the bell pepper and onion.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Dolly’s tip: Halve the onion through the root and set the flat side down before you cut, so it can’t roll.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick over medium heat. Add the pepper and onion and , stirring now and then, until soft and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: A steady, gentle sizzle is right. If it’s spitting and smoking, turn the heat down a little.Add the corn, chili powder, cumin and salt and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the spinach until it , then tip everything into a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heat
Lay the tortillas flat. Sprinkle cheese over half of each, add a quarter of the vegetables, top with more cheese, and the empty half over.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Dolly’s tip: Cheese on both sides of the filling is the glue that holds it together.Heat ½ teaspoon oil in the skillet over medium heat and add two quesadillas. Cook until and underneath, 2 to 3 minutes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Flip them carefully with a wide spatula and cook until the other side is and the cheese has , about 2 minutes. Repeat with the other two.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: Steady the top with your fingers on the spatula as you flip. If some filling escapes, just tuck it back in.Let them sit for 1 minute, then cut each in half and serve with salsa and sour cream.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
