Veggie Quesadilla

Posted on October 10, 2017 by jacky grace

We make tacos a lot in our house.

Usually once a week.

They’re easy. They’re versatile. And they can be made to be relatively healthy if you load ’em up with veggies.

As much as I love tacos, I kind of wanted to do something different.

Since it’s football season, I also wanted to do something that was a little more couch friendly and had a little more of a bar food vibe.

Quesadillas. Bingo.

Cheesy. Handheld. Packed with veggies. Satisfies the need for a healthy dinner that’s also Monday night Football friendly.

You can use a different combination of vegetables. You could also add, say, some shredded rotisserrie chicken or even leftover slices of steak if you wanted to add meat.

Here’s what I used for the filling:

Two green bell peppers, julienned
Two poblano peppers, julienned
One onion, julienned
One can of black beans, rinsed and drained
One can of corn, rinsed and drained
White button mushrooms, sliced

You will also need tortillas, taco seasoning and Mexican cheese blend. You can also add fixin’s like sour cream, salsa and guacamole.

You’re going to want to use a fairly large skillet for this.

Start with vegetable oil or avocado oil (I love this Avocado Oil from Thrive Market)

Add your peppers and onion to the pan and saute until soft.

When the peppers and the onion have softened, add the mushrooms.

Mushrooms are super absorbent so you may need to add more oil. Be sure to stir so everythign cooks evenly.

When the mushrooms have browned, toss in the beans and corn and add your favorite taco seasoning. Or add your own blend of seasonings and spices.

Give everything a stir and let it come together for a few minutes.

In the meantime, let’s get the Quesadilla assembly started.

Line a pan with foil. This is going under the broiler, so use a pan that can stand up to the broiler.

Lay down two tortillas and add a hefty layer of cheese.

Spoon on your veggie mixture

And add more cheese

Pop this under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese melts. Do not walk away from the oven. This goes from perfectly melted to burned rather quickly.

Add another tortilla on top and get into fourths. Quesdaillas cut into fourths is a requirement. I don’t even think you can call them quesadillas unless they’re cut into triangles.

Add whatever toppings you like. Guacamole, salsa and sour cream were our toppings of choice.

This amount of mixture ended up making four quesadillas, so for us that translated into two nights of dinners from one pan!

Huevos Rancheros

Posted on April 16, 2015 by jacky grace

There is no food in the house.

You can’t make a delicious and satisfying meal

You must order takeout.

Have you found yourself in this frightening situation?

It usually hits just at the time when your favorite take out place is about to close and you end up debating being that jerk who places an order just before closing and makes the delivery guys work late (you will give him a good tip, you promise) and just taking a second look in the fridge.

9 times out of 10, I do actually have some ingredients that I can toss together and make into something.

Usually, it’s huevos rancheros.

Really, all you need is onion, peppers, beans and eggs. I tend to have all of these ingredients on hand. This time, there was also chorizo and some shredded cheese in the fridge. Score.

Chop up your onion and pepper and chorizo (if you have it) and toss into a pot with some olive oil.

Cook over medium heat until the veggies soften.

Add in your beans. I had refried pinto beans in the cabinet, but you could use black beans, pinto beans, refried black beans, kidney beans. Really, whatever you have.

Let this cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toss in a handful (or two) of cheese

and stir.

In a skillet, fry two eggs, sunny side and runny and gooey.

Place a scoop of the bean and veggie mixture on your plate and top with the fried eggs.

And there’s a delicious and healthy meal from the contents of your pantry.

If you have, you can top with salsa or avocado or both.

You will feel better about whipping up something yourself and your delivery guy will thank you.

Mexican Style Baked Eggs

Posted on September 22, 2014 by jacky grace

Two of my favorite things in the dinner world are meals that can be made in one pot and things that involve a gooey egg with a runny yolk.

This lovely concoction delivers both.

A baked egg dish brings a lot to the table. Ease, convenience, great way to use up some leftover veggies, and a way to pack in the veggies and goodness.

This dish is packed with all the flavors of a taco, but eliminates the extra calories of the tortilla and gives a protein punch with some eggs. Also, it’s a lot less messy than a make-your-own taco bar.

You will need

1 white onion cut into thin slices,
2 bell peppers (any color) cut into slices
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
4 eggs (two per person)
olive oil
salt
pepper
cheese, avocado, sour cream or whatever toppings you prefer

Start by drizzling olive oil in your pot. You want something that is oven-proof and also has sides at least 4 inches high, so you can sautee your veggies and not throw them everywhere.

Toss in your onion and peppers.

Let them cook over medium until the onions are translucent.

Next add diced tomatoes

And stir

Let the tomatoes warm through and cook for about 5 minutes

Then add the rinsed and drained black beans

And stir

Season with salt and pepper and let this cook together for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425.

When you’re happy with your veggie mixture, lower the heat a bit and, using a wooden spoon, make a small divot in the mixture – one for each egg.

You want to be able to crack an egg and have it nestle into the little hole.

Repeat with all your eggs.

Then pop into the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, or until the eggs are set.

Carefully scoop out so as not to break the yolks and pile on a plate.

Add cheese

Some avocado and Greek yogurt (sorry we don’t use sour cream)

And voila. Mexican baked eggs and only one messy pot.

Fajita Night

Posted on July 24, 2013 by jacky grace

I love Mexican food for many reasons. First, of course, is for the taste.

The fresh crisp vegetables, the creamy avocado, the spices. Such great textural and flavor combinations. Cool sour cream against the heat of a chili. Soft tortillas and crunch peppers.

The second reason to love Mexican is how fast you can get dinner on the table when you do a Mexican night.

We make tacos a lot. Tons of variations, too.

But I haven’t made fajitas in a while.

You can buy a kit at the store, but you can just as easily make your own. The kit doesn’t save you much time any way – it really just puts the spice packet and the tortillas in the same box.

I made chicken fajitas, but you can use any kind of meat you want, or you can go vegetarian with it. Maybe add some black beans for the protein. Or tofu. If you’re feeling daring.

So you will need

chicken breast
3 peppers (any color, I used green because they were cheapest), diced
1 onion, diced
vegetable oil
taco or fajita seasoning (it’s in a packet- it’s premixed with all those great flavors)
toppings as desired (I made my avocado yogurt dip and then added some shredded cabbage and cheese)

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking dish. You want something with sides so the oil and spices won’t drip when you take the pan out (yes, I’ve made a mess of my stove before).

Drizzle some vegetable and some of the seasoning mix over the chicken. Add more if you want more spice and less for less. Totally up to you.

Pop the chicken in the oven and let cook until the juices run clear. You can also cut it open and check the coloring since we’re just going to shred the chicken later.

While the chicken bakes, add some vegetable oil and the diced peppers and onion to a pan.

Sprinkle over more of the seasoning mix. Stir and let cook until the veggies are soft.

When the juices are clear and the pinkness is cooked out of the chicken, remove from the oven and slice it up into bite size pieces.

Add the shredded chicken to the pot of veggies, stir and let the mixture cook together. For a bit of extra flavor, pour the oil collected in the pan from the chicken into the pot. It adds some more fat and juice to the dish, which is on the light side.

Last, but not least, assemble the fajita. Some avocado yogurt sauce, followed by shredded cabbage, then by the veggie and chicken mix and topped with cheese.

That’s the third great thing about Mexican night. It’s assemble your own meal. It’s like those R.L Stine Choose Your Own Adventure Goosebumps books!

Except, you know, you won’t meet a mad scientist or a flesh-eating zombie if you make the wrong turn.

Itty Bitty City Kitchen

tiny kitchen, BIG CULINARY ASPIRATIONS

Tag Archives: easy mexican

Veggie Quesadilla

Huevos Rancheros

Mexican Style Baked Eggs

Fajita Night