Veggie Quesadillas

Today we went to the zoo early morning. Yeah, we were there by 8:30. After 4 hours of walking around and only icecream to snack, went to P.F. Chang's for lunch. After coming back I had a such a good nap that I am still fresh.!!! Gave some water guns for kids to play in the patio and then I joined them in the fight. Haven't laughed so hard in long time.  
When it was almost time for dinner I thought of Quesadillas. For one thing, it's very easy to make and also can be loaded with vegetables and cheese. It's a very popular Mexican entree. It can be made in various ways. Below is a simple quick recipe that my kids love. This can be just an evening snack or appetizer or a meal in itself. This was our dinner tonight.


Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 5 min. | Cooking Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

·    Whole grain/ wheat Tortillas – 6

·    Shredded Cheese (Any kind that you would like – I usually get fiesta blend mix) – About 2 to 3 cups

·    Green Chutney – 4 tbsp. (Homemade or store bought. I had some store bought. Below there is recipe for green chutney.)

·    For Filling:

o   Onions – 2 medium sized (slice into long strips)

o   Bell peppers/ Capsicum (any color) – 1 or 2 medium sized( sliced into long strips)

o   Garlic – 3 cloves (finely chopped)

o   Coarse pepper – 1 tsp.

o   Salt to taste

o   Oil – 1tsp.

Method of Preparation:

~  In a skillet, heat oil and add onions, garlic, bell peppers and fry for about 5 minutes (until bell peppers are cooked & they become soft)

~  Add salt and pepper, mix well and switch off the heat.

~  To make quesadillas à

-     Heat a nonstick frying pan / crepe pan. Place a tortilla and fry for about ½ a minute. Turn it over.

-     Spread green chutney on one half side of the tortilla. Place about spoonful or two of onion & bell pepper mixture on it. Top it with grated cheese.

-          Close the other half side of the tortilla. Once crisp on bottom side, flip over to cook the other half side of the quesadilla.

-          Once done, take it out on a plate and immediately cut them into three or four wedge shaped pieces.

-          Serve it with creamy Guacamole on the side.

-          Repeat above process to make more quesadillas.

Green Chutney:

Finely grind coriander leaves (1 bunch), green chilies (10), mint leaves (handful of leaves), ginger (small piece), fried cumin seeds(1 tsp), 1 tsp. of lime juice together. This can be kept refrigerated for several days.

Tips:

~ You can skip the onion, bell pepper filling and just make Cheese Quesadillas.

~ Any favorite vegetable (shredded carrots, corn, zucchini) or chicken can be chosen for the filling. Just prepare beforehand and keep it aside so quesadillas can be prepared hot as needed.


Sending this to Smita's HCC event via Anamika's Healthy Cooking Challenge: Lunchbox 

Sending this to Srav's Cooking Concepts Apetizers event