Veggie Quesadillas

As I may have mentioned before, I'm a pretty slapdash, freestyle cook. A little of this and that, whatever I have lying around... I'm not afraid to experiment and generally my food turns out pretty well. Either way, it's always a learning experience. Veggie quesadillas is one of those "make do with what you have" dishes. So go take a look in the refridge and see what you can make a tasty meal out of.

Ingredients:

Assorted "stir-fry" vegetables, such as...

Half a green pepper
One medium sized onion, chopped
About a cup of zucchini, chopped
1 carrot, cut into matchstick sized pieces
About six mushrooms, sliced
Spinach, fresh or frozen

Swiss or Monterey Jack cheese

Hot sauce

Large, soft tortilla shells (the big round ones that they use to make burritos and roll-ups)

Cooking oil or spray

Needed cooking utensils:

Cutting board and chef's knife

Large mixing bowl

Large frying pan

Paddle spoon

Biggest spatula you can find

Large serving dish

Instructions:

Have all of your necessary ingredients and utensils out and ready ahead of time. If some of the mentioned vegetables aren't available, that's fine... substitute whatever you do have - this is like a stir-fry, but more fun because there's cheese and tortillas involved!

Do your kitchen prep and chop everything up nicely, then combine in the mixing bowl.

Get out a big wok or frying pan and preheat to medium high.

Quickly sautee up the vegetables with the onion and cooking oil. Remove from heat before veggies become limp; you really only want them lightly sauteed, since we'll be cooking them for a second time later on. Set veggies aside in a bowl. Add hot sauce if desired.

Clean the pan or get out a new one. Lightly grease the pan using the cooking spray. If you're using cooking oil from the bottle, then dab a bit on a paper towl and swab that around the surface of the pan and turn the heat on medium-high. Strategically place your large serving dish next to the pan - you'll need this for the quesa-dump which will be happening shortly.

Test the pan for proper hotness by shaking a few drops of water onto the oiled surface. If it sizzles, you're ready to go. You need to work quickly for this part so make sure you're properly caffeined up or whatever you do to get on your game.

Remove one of the tortilla shells from the package and lay it down in the pan. It will begin to brown immediately (this is why you need to be quick). Get a big spoon and scoop some of the mixed veggies onto HALF of the tortilla shell. Keep in mind that the more veggies you pile on, the messier the eating will be. So keep it slim... you can always make lots more quesadillas since you have a whole bag of tortilla shells to use.

Sprinkle a good amount of cheese on top of the veggie layer, enough to create some gooey, cheesey goodness. Now -- are you ready? -- we're going to pick up the empty side of the tortilla and fold it over the side that has the veggies and cheese. With a spatula, press down on the folded tortilla, like you're making an omelet. After a few moments, use the spatula to support the quesadilla as you gently flip it over. Pat it down again and let brown for a bit longer.

Carefully remove quesadilla from the pan and set aside on the large serving dish. Repeat the quesadilla-making process until you run out of ingredients.

Serves: 4?

Suggested accompaniments: fresh salsa, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce

Submitted by:

Dina Giolitto
http://wordfeeder.com

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