Tag Archives: 10 minutes

Two EASY Quesadillas: Goat cheese and grilled peppers; Chicken and Bacon. The choice is yours

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I get on kicks. My latest is quesadillas.

A month ago, I made a wonderful black bean, Ranch, rotisserie chicken quesadilla, then a Mediterranean inspired quesadilla and I have several more in the works.

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The charm of the quesadilla is it’s quick, easy, versatile and delicious.

It’s portable so you can eat it on the go as a snack, but also filling enough to enjoy it for dinner.

If you’re watching your carb intake, you can substitute a high protein, low carb wrap for the tortilla shell.

A classic quesadilla is common street fare all over in Mexico. You can fill it with any variety of cheeses, meats, vegetables and use corn, black corn, white or wheat flour tortillas.  There are tremendous possibilities.

It’s a great way to use leftover barbecue meats, too. I nestle shredded barbecue pork in a tortilla, top it with cheese, cilantro, chopped red onion, and grill it. Then I serve it with barbecue sauce and sour cream. It’s delightful.

And you don’t have to know much about cooking to create a delicious quesadilla.

My biggest tip is when making a quesadilla that is stuffed with other ingredients, cook it cheese side down first so it has a chance to melt and the cheese doesn’t fall out when you flip it.

Use a nonstick pan or a skillet to make quesadillas. If you’re feeding a crowd, a pancake griddle works beautifully to cook several at the same time (if you have a family, a griddle is a great choice).

Here are two AMAZING and easy recipes:

The goat cheese quesadilla is tossed with green salsa and cuddles up to bell peppers and chicken. It’s L1070005 (2) one of my favorites as the creamy, tangy goat cheese contrast beautifully with a trio of bell peppers. Goat cheese is also less fattening and I like the fact that my recipe includes veggies. This is a single serving recipe, so perfect for a snack or someone who lives solo.

My bacon and chicken is about as easy as it gets and takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish. This is basic qubaconqesadilla with rotisserie chicken, bacon pieces, cheese and a dash of cumin. I grill it and serve it with salsa and guacamole.

I hope you enjoy these.

Goat Cheese, Chicken and Tri-Pepper Quesadilla

Serves 1

1 medium size tortilla

Cooking spray

1/3 cup of assorted sliced bell peppers, red, green and yellow or orange

¼ cup of soft goat cheese

1 1/2 tablespoons green salsa

Dash of ground cumin

1/3 cup sliced or chopped rotisserie chicken breast

Guacamole or green salsa for serving

First, slice assorted bell peppers and heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. When hot, add the bell peppers and cook 3-5 minutes until they reach desired tenderness. Salt the peppers and remove from heat.

In a bowl, stir together the goat cheese and green salsa until combined. Then spread the mixture over half of a tortilla. Top with chicken and bell peppers. Then sprinkle a dash of ground cumin on the other side of the tortilla and fold over to make a half moon.

Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat it over medium heat. Add the folded tortilla and cook about 2-3 minutes per side, until slightly crisp. Slice and serve with green salsa or guacamole.

goat cheese quesadilla

Chicken and Bacon Quesadilla

Makes 2 snacks or 1 meal size

2 medium size flour tortillas

1 chicken breast

½ cup shredded Mexican style cheese

2 heaping teaspoons real bacon pieces

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin or cumin seed

Cooking spray

Guacamole for serving

Salsa for serving

Cilantro to garnish

Cut the chicken breast off the rotisserie chicken, discard and skin and slice the breast. Then divide those pieces in half.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat.

Place half the cheese on half of each tortilla. Top with chicken, bacon and cumin. Fold the other half of the tortilla over to make a half moon. Then place in skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve with salsa and guacamole.

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California Chicken Sandwich with Basil Mayo

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Easy. Easy. Easy. That sums up this sandwich. If you want something quick, but with a flavor kick, try this. I add basil paste to the mayonnaise and then simply add chicken, avocado, tomato and a touch of garlic salt.

Built that on some good bread, and you’re done. This keeps well so it’s a good choice to take on a picnic or to the office for lunch.

California Chicken Sandwich

This easy sandwich gets a big punch of flavor from basil mayonnaise. This sandwich is so easy, delicious and has lots of healthy fat.

Serves 2

Slice of soft Italian bread or French bread

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 1/4 teaspoons basil paste (these are the refrigerated tubes of herbs you see in the store, usually nears herbs or produce)

1 avocado

1 ripe, beefsteak tomato

Dash of garlic salt

1 large rotisserie chicken breast

Mix together mayonnaise and basil paste and set aside. Slice your bread open and if the bread is thick, slightly pick out some of the bread at the bottom or top so you can layer avocado slices in there.

Then spread mayonnaise mixture inside the bread.

Slice avocado, tomato and chicken. Sprinkle garlic salt on the tomatoes. Then layer all three ingredients in the sandwich. Close the bread, cut it in half and share.

Rosemary Chicken Salad

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This recipe is so easy and fantastic. I love rosemary, which was the inspiration for this recipe. We grew loads of it last summer and I dried it and am using up the last bits. It’s so easy to dry. I gave several bottles away for Christmas.

Anyway, when I told my husband about my rosemary salad, you didn’t think it sounded good, but when he tasted it, he was won over. I’d serve it on ciabatta or grilled Italian or French bread. If you are a low carb person, serve it in butter lettuce.

I am in love with it. It’s my few favorite chicken salad. It’s unbelievably easy to make. I experiment with a lot of chicken salad ideas because the dish is so simple, versatile, portable, and delicious.

It’s also excellent as an appetizer on Ritz crackers!!! I tried it in phyllo bites, too, but the Ritz were better.

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Rosemary Chicken Salad

3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cups chopped celery (about 3 stalks)

¾ cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (could substitute red if you need)

1 heaping tablespoon chopped, dried rosemary

Garlic salt to taste

Combine chicken, onion and celery and set aside.

In another bowl, mix mayonnaise, vinegar, rosemary and garlic salt. I added ¼ teaspoon of garlic salt but I like it salty, so I would salt to taste.

Stir together both mixes and enjoy. This is better the next day so I suggest making it in advance.

Grilled Chicken, Ham, Arugula and Cranberry Sandwich

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I adore this quick and easy sandwich which was inspired by a sandwich I ate in Covington, La., while visiting family there. We went to this darling café and my sandwich had the best cranberry sauce, which I came home and duplicated. That sandwich was just turkey and cranberry sauce, but I wanted to use chicken, so I came up with this.  Just chicken was too plain, so I added the ham and it gave this the pop of flavor it needs.

The creamy, sweet and tart cranberry sauce is wonderful with the spicy arugula and mellow chicken and salty, smoky ham. You don’t need any fancy bread for this, just plain grocery store wheat works fine.  You grill it like a grilled cheese. If you have a child who is able to help in the kitchen, they can assemble the sandwich while you heat the skillet and grill the sandwiches.

If you want to make it dairy-free or save calories, simply spray the pan with cooking spray instead of buttering your bread.

This delicious sandwich can be turned into a wrap if you’re in a rush and eaten cold. In that case, simply spread the cranberry mayonnaise mixture on the inside of a whole wheat wrap. Top with ham and sliced chicken and a big handful of arugula. Roll up like you would a burrito.

And if you do want a lovely artisan bread, then use that and press this like a panini. Yes, it’s versatile and the leftovers are good so you can double the recipe and eat some tomorrow.

Ingredients:

8 slices whole wheat bread

2 tablespoon butter, divided

½ cup whole cranberry sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

¾ cup arugula (can substitute spinach)

8 slices of deli ham

Thick cut rotisserie chicken breast, enough to cover a piece of bread

Spread butter or margarine lightly over one side of each slice of bread

Mix together mayonnaise and cranberry sauce and spread over opposite side of bread (not on buttered side)

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.

When warm, add two slices of bread, butter side down, in the pan. Add ham, chicken and arugula and then add the other piece of bread so the butter side is up (just like you would in a grilled cheese).

Press down with a spatula and when the bottom side is golden brown, flip it. Cook until the other side is golden brown and serve warm.

Serves 4.