(Recipe and Photo Credit: Simply Recipes)

Since I was away Labor Day and this week is so short (and busy!) I didn’t create a meal plan like I normally would. Instead in the back of my mind I knew we would be eating leftovers from our camping trip (which we are) and I would make one maybe two recipes this week. Since I didn’t want to completely miss more recipes for you I thought I would do this random recipe post on what I’ve been craving lately…Quesadillas!

I had in the back of my mind that I would use some leftover chicken and mushrooms and add some cheese and BBQ sauce and “hopefully” it will come out good. Well I still like to prepare so I found this simple recipe for a Quesadilla which I am modifying to my tastes. I will just add my own ingredients to the cheese base and remove some ingredients that I know the kids won’t like when I try it tonight. I will post on Facebook how it came out and hopefully have a picture

Ingredients

• Large flour tortillas
• Grated cheese – either mild or sharp cheddar, or Monterrey Jack
• Olive oil or butter

Optional

• Sliced mushrooms (I will probably saute these first)
• Chicken pieces
• BBQ sauce
• Any veggie or meat you like!

Instructions

Heat a large frying pan (cast iron preferably) to medium high heat. Add a small amount of oil or butter (about 1/2 teaspoon) and spread it around the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Take one large flour tortilla and place it in the pan. Flip the tortilla over a few times, 10 seconds between flips. Air pockets should begin to form within the tortilla.

When pockets of air begin to form, take a handful of grated cheese, sprinkle over the top of the tortilla, making sure that the cheese does not land on the pan itself. Add whatever additional ingredients you choose – green onion, sliced mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, etc. If you would like your quesadilla to be a chicken quesadilla, add some diced cooked chicken (and about 1/4 cup BBQ sauce if not already marinated). Take care not to layer on the ingredients to thickly – this is a quesadilla, not a quiche.

Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. The pan should be hot enough by now to have plenty of residual heat to melt the cheese and brown the tortilla. If the quesadilla begins to smoke too much, remove from the heat. After a minute, check to see if the cheese is melted. If not, return the cover and keep checking every minute until the cheese is melted. When the cheese is sufficiently melted, use a spatula to lift up one side of the quesadilla and flip over the other side, as if you were making an omelette. The tortilla should by now be browned slightly. If it is not browned, turn the heat up to high and flip the quesadilla over every 10 seconds or so until it gets browned. Remove from pan and cut into wedges.

Serve with Sour Cream, Salsa, Guacamole, etc.