Chris and I are making a concerted effort to incorporate more plant-based meals into our diet. We’ve been experimenting quite a bit over the last few weeks with vegetarian and vegan meals! Most of them have been winners, although there have been a few mediocre and one flat out fail. But I really don’t think it’s possible to go wrong with quesadillas!
Of all the cuisines we enjoy, we eat Mexican/Latin food the most. This veggie loaded take on the classic quesadilla is just divine. It’s packed with beans, spinach, cheese and avocado, topped with a bright salsa fresca, and I paired it with cilantro lime rice, one of my favorites. The only complaint I have with dish is that the beans are a tad dry, especially when reheated the next day. I think the next I make this dish, I will substitute the canned beans for homemade refried beans. I’ll definitely still leave the chipotle kick in, though! If I do end up making that modification and think it’s better, I’ll come back and edit the post.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 4 Roma tomatoes diced
- 1/4 cup red onion chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 can kidney, pinto or black beans drained, rinsed
- 1 Tbsp chipotle chiles in adobo sauce minced
- 4 flour tortillas
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup Mexican blend cheese shredded
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 3 cups cooked long grain white rice
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
Ingredients
Salsa Fresca
Quesadillas
Rice
|
|
- Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a small bowl, mash together beans and minced chipotle.
- In a dry skillet over medium heat, warm a tortilla for about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. The tortilla should begin to puff up slightly. Remove tortilla from pan, and fold in half to create a crease. Spread 1/4 of the bean mixture on half the tortilla and top with a 1/2 cup of spinach, 1/4 cup cheese and 1/4 of the avocado slices. Press the top half of the tortilla down and set aside. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Once all tortillas are filled, brush one side of quesadillas with canola oil. In the same pan still over medium heat, place two of the quesadillas oil side down. Once browned and crispy (this will not take long!), brush the second side of the quesadillas with oil and flip. Remove when brown and crispy on both sides. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
- Slice each tortilla into thirds, and top with salsa fresca for serving.
- Fluff hot cooked rice, and stir in lime juice, cilantro and oil.
