Fiesta!

Kandice: I love quesadillas! They are so fast and easy to make and they always turn out good. You could literally put anything in a quesadilla that pairs well with cheese.

Josh: Yeah, like chicken …

Kandice: And cheese! ...

Josh: Steak …

Kandice: And cheese! …

Josh: Peppers …

Kandice: And cheese! …

Josh: Kandice!

Kandice: Sorry.

… silence …

Chicken-Mushroom Quesadillas

Ingredients:
1 tbsp Canola oil
1 Large onion, chopped
8 oz White button mushrooms, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
3 Cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Cooked diced skinless boneless chicken breast (1 breast half)
½ tbsp Ground curry
1 tsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp Dried oregano
2 cups Baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper
4 10-inch tortillas
1 cup Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (4 oz)
½ cup Salsa (see recipe)
¼ cup Sour cream

Josh: Anyways … With this particular recipe for quesadillas there is a lot of prep work that needs to be done. Thankfully, Kandice found a second cutting board so we were both able to work on the preparation at the same time.

Kandice: Once everything was peeled, chopped, or shredded we started by cooking the chicken. For the chicken, Josh and I prepared it a bit differently than the cookbook had recommended. Well, actually all it said was to dice it and cook it, so we decided to add our own flare to it. While the chicken was cooking in a pan over medium-low heat, we added some ground curry to the chicken.

Josh: If you’ve ever smelt curry, it kind of smells like Ramen noodles. Well at least Kandice and I think so. But the point to adding the curry to the chicken was to give it a little flavoring next to the cumin and oregano that’ll be added to the recipe later.

Kandice: For our utensils we used a large skillet, a wooden spoon, a spatula, and a griddle. In the large skillet we combined and cooked the mushrooms and onions over medium heat, until the water from the mushrooms had evaporated. Then we added in the garlic and cooked it for an additional minute.

Josh: Next, we mixed in the chicken and the spices (excluding the salt and pepper). When all of the spices were incorporated into the chicken, onions, and mushrooms, we stirred in the spinach, salt, and pepper. Once the spinach was wilted we knew that the chicken was complete.

Kandice: Now, on to more preparation! We had to lay the tortillas on a flat surface and sprinkle approximately 2 tablespoons of cheese on half of each tortilla. Then we spooned some of the chicken mixture on top of the cheese and covered it with an additional 2 tablespoons of cheese. We then folded the tortillas into half-moons.

Josh: When the preparations were done, we then had to cook them on the griddle. There are two tricky things about working with the quesadillas at this point in time. The first was figuring out how to transfer the tortillas without spilling its contents all over the place. The second was to know when was the best time to flip the quesadillas over so that we didn’t burn or char them.

Kandice: Unfortunately we failed at one of these two tasks. Any guesses? Yup, it was transferring the quesadillas! I don’t know what happened, but all I remember is Josh grumbling and finding food on the floor. Hahaha.

Josh: I still say that that incident never occurred. I don’t even remember it happening!

Kandice: Whatever. Well the key to keep the second fate from happening was diligence and a little bit of olive oil cooking spray. We cooked both sides of the quesadillas for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Then we took them off the stove and cut them in half. We then served them with our salsa and a dollop of sour cream!

Josh: Okay, so quesadillas are great. But you can't have the normal mashed potato, or mac 'n cheese side dish. So what comes to mind? I dare you not to say, "Salsa and Chips".

Kandice: It's perfect! A small pile of fresh veggies with a stack of multigrain chips is a great healthy addition to the quesadillas.

Josh: Not only are the fresh veggies providing the vitamins you need, but the heat from the salsa can temporarally spike your metabolism and help with calorie burning!

Kandice: Plus, the recipe and process is super easy.

Fresh, Zesty Salsa

Ingredients:
1 Jalapeno
1/2 Green Pepper
3 Medium Tomatos
1/2 Red Onion
1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Kandice: The only thing that really needs to be done is to chop all of the ingredients, and throw them all into the food processor. We did put the tomatoes in after the rest of the ingredients had been chopped, so that the processor didnt completely destroy them. We then drained the salsa to get rid of a lot of water that came from the tomatoes.

Josh: Salsa is a very simple recipe, and you can change it to however you want. If you like it a little spicier, add another jalapeno and a little more onion. If you want it to be a little more colorful then you can add some cilantro and red, yellow, and/or orange peppers. There's really no end to how you can customize it to your own personal taste!