Baked Mushroom and Zucchini Quesadillas with Cool Cilantro Lime Pesto

There is hardly a bad time for quesadillas.  They can be the all-so-necessary in-between daytime snack, or a satisfying dinner.   Typically, you’re only option is cheese.   This is where the record starts skipping.   Sure it’s simple, but you can only enjoy processed cheese for so long.  If you are lucky, maybe you will also get some chicken thrown in there too.   But do not fret!  As the greenery in the produce section diversifies and multiplies, now is the time to add vegetables to everything – even your quesadillas.  Turn the record over; we’ve got a new song to play.

For this particular batch of quesadillas I chose portabella mushrooms for their meaty taste.  Zucchini was more of a frugally driven choice.  Besides corn, it’s one of the cheapest items in produce during the summer.   Carrots or bell peppers have potential as well.  

What really sets these quesadillas apart is the cilantro lime pesto.  I know I have been on a pesto kick recently, but for good reason.  No hassle, great taste.  It’s like buying quality products for half price!  This pesto – which I served cold – gave great contrast to the taste and texture.  So if you find yourself stalling out on plain old cheese quesadillas, there is hope.  Just add pesto, and presto!  You have yourself an old tune with a new twist. 

Cilantro Lime Pesto

Ingredients:

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1 jalapeno, chopped

Zest of one lime

Juice of one lime

Salt

Enough olive oil to reach desired texture

Instructions:

1.       In a blender or food processor, add all ingredients.  Blend until you have reached desired consistency. 

Makes about ¾ cup.

Mushroom and Zucchini Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini, sliced

2 cups portabella mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 ½ cups Monterey, Cheddar, or Mexican blend cheese, shredded

4-6 whole wheat tortillas (depending on how you portion)

Optional: Sour cream or salsa

Instructions:

1.       Heat a frying pan over medium heat, until you can feel heat.  Add 2 T olive oil.

2.       Add in zucchini and mushrooms (may have to add mushrooms first, then zucchini if space does not allow both – just don’t crowd the vegetables!) Sautee for about 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but not soft.  Remove from pan.  Keep pan warm if you wish to fry your quesadilla and not bake it.

3.       Spread pesto on tortilla (or if you want to keep the pesto cold, skip this). 

4.       Layer vegetables and cheese on tortilla.  Either fry or bake your quesadilla (I did mine in the toaster oven).

5.       If you have not added the pesto, add it now.  Slice the tortilla in quarters.  Serve with sour cream salsa, more cheese, etc.

Mexican Chicken Stacks

There is no such thing as Mexi-can’t food.   There is only Mexican.   Cheesy? Yes.  But there must be something about the word, “Mexican”.  Put it in front of any other type of food and it’s as if you can’t go wrong.  It reminds me of good mash-up music.  Overlay two separate things and somehow it becomes a perfect union.  How else could Mexican lasagna, Mexican burgers, Mexican ice cream, or Mexican pizza work so well? With a best friend visiting for the weekend, it was time for my own Mexican mash-up. 

I started with a slice of warm cornbread right from the oven.   This would be my cornerstone – I could build from here.  Cheese acted as the melty mortar for my Mexican stack.  Then brick-red Chili Tomato Sauce added a touch of crimson color and a fiery heat.  But I was careful to cool things down before they burned down the house.  The Lime-Grapefruit marinated chicken and even a few slices of avocado would be perfect touches.  Finally, I added the arugula, which made for a peppery, crunchy roof for this now towering Mexican Chicken Stack.   

Each bite was a symphony of flavors.  A full chorus of tastes and textures sang wildly as I dug through my stack.  It looked much like a deconstructed Taco Casserole, but tasted so much more gourmet.  I could taste every different section of the stack on its own, but all the parts worked so harmoniously with the whole.  I would recommend this to anyone who craves freshness and values making food from scratch. 

Mexican Chicken Stacks

- The layering really depends on your preference.  Mine went as follows: cornbread, cheese, tomato sauce, chicken, and arugula.  However, next time I think that I would switch the chicken and arugula and add avocado slices or sour cream to the very top.  I have also considered adding chipotle peppers to the Chili Tomato Sauce.  I have included my recipes for the Chili Tomato Sauce and the Lime-Grapefruit Chicken.  The cornbread I used was from Smitten Kitchen.  There is lots of room for variation in this recipe, so be creative!

Chili Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

½ cup onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

4 T ground chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper, ground

1 (28 oz) can tomatoes, diced (do not drain)

1 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

1.        Heat a large pot over medium heat until hot, add oil. 

2.       Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, or at least until onions are translucent.

3.       Add garlic; continue to sauté over medium heat for about 3 more minutes. 

4.       Add chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper.   Stir until aromatic – about 1 minute. 

5.       Add tomatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. 

6.       Reduce temperature to medium heat. 

7.       Reduce the sauce down by about half, or until the sauce thickens (about 15-20 minutes).

Lime-Grapefruit Chicken

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 limes

Zest of 2 limes

Juice of 1 grapefruit

1 cup cilantro, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely diced

Salt and pepper

Sugar or honey, to taste

Jalapeno, finely diced

2 green onions, finely sliced

2 chicken thigh and leg quarters, bone-in

Instructions:

1.       Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. 

2.       Use half of the marinade to add to the chicken; reserve the other half for a sauce for the chicken after it has been cooked.

3.       Marinade chicken for at least 30 minutes.   

4.       Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350˚ F.

5.       Bake chicken until juices run clear, about 30 minutes. 

6.       Remove chicken from bone, and shredding it.

7.       In a medium sized bowl, add the reserved marinade to the cooked chicken and refrigerate, covered, until ready to eat (up to one day).   

The Jalapeno, Lime, and CilanTrio: 3 Different Dips Using the Same Three Ingredients

I love a bargain as much as the next guy, but some cheap things must be bought on principle.  Take, for example, an $8 deep fryer we found at a thrift store.  Sure, it’s not going to produce anything overtly healthy (so far we have fried tortillas, pickles, saltines, and beignets – no regrets so far); but at least by the end of exams, your brain won’t be the only thing breaded and fried.  

Our deep fryer was full of possibility, easily outdoing any dorm’s vending machine as the best junk food machine around.  Some were skeptical – “What are you going to do with it?” Better question, what were we NOT going to do with it.  Visions of sugarplum fairies have nothing on beer-battered shrimp, crispy fried chicken, or fried dough.  Soft corn tortillas, the precursor to a perfect dipping vessel, were on sale for about $3 a package of 30, so we picked one up.  When we returned home, and cut each individual tortilla into 4 slices, we realized we had way more than a lot of chips. 

A ritual was born: finish an exam or paper, and then start up the deep fryer.  The reserve brain power we had left was enough to absently plop soft tortillas into our cauldron of scalding oil and watch them emerge as hot, honey-golden crisps.  After a quick sprinkle of salt, they offered the perfect salty crunch to kick started our fading minds.  But we weren’t finished yet.  We wanted something to go with it… Chips + dips=bliss. (Unfortunately, I saw none of these equations on my finals)

The fridge revealed a Mexican powerhouse trio: jalapeno, lime and cilantro.  Initially, we had planned on having guacamole and salsa on separate nights.  But with the copious chip count, we wanted both.  We upped the ante, added hummus to the dip list, and made all three for dinner.  Each incorporated the three fresh ingredients, but had a uniquely defined character.  Arranged elegantly on a long plate, we treated ourselves to velvety guacamole, vibrant salsa, and creamy hummus.  Served cold, it was the kind of meal you could enjoy when it’s too hot for anything heavy.   Although we had it as a dinner, it would also be an excellent appetizer before a meal of grilled chicken or flank steak. 

Guacamole 

Ingredients:

2 avocados, mashed

1 lime, juiced

¾ cup cilantro, finely diced 

½ small onion, diced

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 tsp salt (to taste)

¼ tsp cumin

Instructions:

1.       Mash avocados into a paste. 

2.       Mix in the rest of the ingredients, and chill.  Place plastic wrap over the guacamole (even when in a sealed container) to preserve freshness and color.

Makes about 2 cups. 

Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

1 (14.5 oz) can organic tomatoes, diced

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

½ red onion, finely diced

½ cup corn, frozen but brought to room temperature

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans

½ cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.       Mix together all ingredients.  Serve chilled. 

Makes about 4 cups.

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Ingredients:

1 (14.5 oz) can garbanzo beans, reserve drained liquid

1 T tahini

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced

½ cup cilantro, chopped

Lime juice

Cumin

Salt

Instructions:

1.       Remove as many skins from beans as possible. 

2.       Place beans into food processor or blender.  Blend, adding reserve bean liquid when needed.   Should come out looking like a thick, beige paste. 

3.       Add tahini, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro to blender. 

4.       Season with lime juice, cumin, and salt.

Homemade 7 Layer Dip

Have you ever had a craving for freshly made guacamole? How about some thick, chunky salsa? Creamy, garlicky refried beans? Big dollops of sour cream? Have you had all these at once?! Then why limit yourself to one, when you can satisfy them all in one dip.  

 American celebrations entail big food productions, and I love another excuse to make food.  However, people tend to restrict dips to holidays, parties, and game days.   Perhaps it’s because dips are a splurge to our daily diets, or because most recipes make so much that, without friends, it usually ends up in the trash.  Okay, so I did make the dip in celebration of the Super Bowl, and I did share with friends; but this dip’s next destination is not the garbage.  It’s being rationed as my lunch for the next few days.  

You may have guests who pass up the dip, claiming that it will ruin their diet.  The truth is, on average, ¼ cup of 7 Layer Dip has only 86 calories and 6 grams of fat. [The real culprits are those sneaky corn tortilla chips…but they taste so good!]

So, although Super Bowl XLV is over, it doesn’t mean you have to ditch the dips.  Explore the possibilities of this 7 Layer Dip by trying crackers, chips, pita bread, and even carrots or celery to make it last all week.  

7 Layer Dip

Ingredients:

2 (14.5oz) cans pinto beans (do not drain liquid)

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup sour cream

2 ripe avocados

¼ cup onions, finely chopped

3-4 T lime juice

½ clove garlic, minced

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 cup salsa (I used canned)

¼ cup green onions, sliced

¼ cup olives, sliced

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1.       In a sauce pot, boil beans and clove of garlic until beans absorb most liquid. 

2.       With a stick blender, puree beans until thick and creamy.

3.       Layer on bottom of 13x9 pan (I used an 11x8). 

4.       Next, layer on the sour cream.

5.       In a small mixing bowl, combine avocados, onion, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper.  Mash together to make guacamole.  Add as next layer in dip.

6.       Pour salsa on top of guacamole. 

7.       Add green onions and olives.

8.       Lastly, top with shredded cheese. 

9.       Chill for about 1-2 hours.  Serve with chips. 

One Reason to Be a Jerk: Mexican Lime Beef Jerky

It’s like a thinly sliced, dried, portable steak. Once I perfect this recipe it shall be a staple for camping and hiking adventures to come [or maybe just cheap dates? hehe]. Either way this chewy, salty meat packs a punch and makes you work for your lunch.

I used this recipe from my June 2010 Food and Wine, which I did happen to enjoy, but it didn’t have that packaged appeal. For once, I wanted that! With so many recipes and variations, it seems that jerky is an art of trial and error. So I will try more attempts, using different methods and such, and will report back once I’m there.

Mexican Lime Jerky [Food and Wine June 2010]

Ingredients:

2 large jalapenos, halved, 1 seeded

1 c fresh lime juice

32 oz light Mexican beer [I used Corona]

½ c soy sauce

Coarse salt, for sprinkling before drying

Instructions:

1. Take about 2 lbs trimmed beef top round or bottom round, about 1½ in thick, and cut into ¼ in-thick slices, either with or against the grain.

2. In a mini food processor, puree the seeded jalapeno with ¼ c lime juice. Transfer puree into large bowl, stir in beer, soy sauce and unseeded jalapeno and remaining ¾ c lime juice.

3. Add beef to marinade; stir well to coat each slice.

4. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 200˚.

6. Set 3 large wire racks on top of 3 large rimmed baking sheets.

7. Remove beef from marinade and pat dry.

8. Arrange beef on the racks, about ¼ in apart.

9. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

10. Bake for 4 hours or until jerky is firm and almost completely dry but still chewy.

11. Let cool completely. Store in airtight container in fridge for us to 6 weeks.

Makes about ¾ lb.

“Holy Guacamole! That’s One Bad-Ass Burger! It Might Even Be Takin’ the Bacon…”

Some may consider setting the bar too high too early on a disservice for things to come, but with cooking, it’s near impossible to eat your way to the very top with a single dish. There is always something else to make you salivate. Savor your culinary pinnacles. Involving nearly all of your senses, these food fantasies will be some of your most vivid memories.

You might be wondering how a burger could climb its way to becoming an ultimate belly bomb. Well, you could grill me with questions, or try it for yourself. Fact is that this was no ordinary burger. This burger was the creation of my favorite fellow chef-mate, and was a burger with the works. Stacked at least six inches high, this defined deliciously messy eating. With the first bite, you hear the clear crunch of crispy bacon and toasted bun. Second bite: globs of melted cheese encapsulate a juicy meaty burger, encrusted with a slightly salty exterior. Third bite: the smell of tart lime and ripe avocado greet your nose, while your tongue is refreshed with a cool guacamole sauce, all of which are accented by a bite of spicy pepper and a tasty fried onion ring. And those are just your first three bites; there are many more to follow.

My taste buds were torn between packing my cheeks with burger bliss and leisurely enjoying the mouthfuls of flavors that kept drizzling down my face. Paired with Refried Beans on the side, this southwestern-style burger meal was well worth the 30 minutes of cooking and cost of $10 per plate. However, this isn’t the kind of meal you want to eat on-the-go, nor is it a meal you want to enjoy alone. It’s a meal where you sit for a good while in silence; your conversation is only mutual smiles and "mmms". Afterward, you settle in for a post-dinner nap. No matter what you ate that day, it’s as if your stomach restarts and somehow you have room to eat and savor every bite of this burger.

Backyard burgers will never be the same.

Recommendations: seed the chilies/peppers to lessen the spiciness; make the guacamole prior to eating to allow the flavors to embolden; try other cheeses on the burger such as Pepper Jack; and if possible, grill burgers over charcoal or hickory chips.

Bacon Guacamole Cheeseburger

Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, chopped

½ red onion, diced

Juice from 2 limes

2 Serrano chilis or 1 jalapeno pepper, minced

Salt and pepper

¼ c fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

¼ c sour cream ***Part of guacamole sauce***

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop avocados, onion, and chilies/peppers. Put into bowl.

2. Slice limes in half, use fork to extract juice from limes. Do this over the bowl of veggies.

3. With potato masher or fork, mash the avocados.

4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cilantro. Continue to mash until desired consistency is reached.

5. Add chopped tomato. Mix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Put in fridge.

6. Allow flavors to culminate in fridge for as long as desired.

7. Before serving, mix with ¼ cup of sour cream to create the sauce.

Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chuck [the higher fat content, the more tasty it becomes!]

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1/8 t cumin

¼ t chili powder

3 slices of Colby Jack Cheese

Onion, 1 slice – about 6 rings

2 T flour

6 strips of bacon

3 Kaiser rolls, sliced

4 leaves of Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Mix together first five ingredients in large size mixing bowl.

2. Work the meat in hands until conglomerates and becomes tenderized.

3. Form into 3 balls, press into patty shape with hands. Lightly salt the burgers.

4. In skillet, heat about 1 T olive oil.

5. Put flour in bowl. Coat onion rings in flour. Add to skillet, cook until tender with a crispy exterior. Remove from skillet.

6. Add bacon to skillet. Fry until nearly crispy, take off heat. ***the bacon will continue to cook even after you take it out of the pan, so by taking it out just a bit early helps you achieve the perfect crispiness!***

7. Drain off bacon grease, but SAVE at least 2 TABLESPOONS in skillet. Keep grease hot.

8. In another skillet/frying pan, throw a few pinches of salt onto the pan and then cook burgers. About 5 min per side.

9. Put rolls into bacon grease and fry them for about 2-3 min, until crispy.

10. Add cheese to burgers, let melt.

11. Plate. Bottom roll, burger, onion rings, guacamole sauce, bacon, cilantro. Put the top roll to the side until ready to be ravenously eaten.

Refried Beans

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

¼ c onion, chopped

½ clove garlic, diced

2 cans [15 oz.] black beans, DO NOT DRAIN

½ c cheese [Queso Fresca or cheddar]

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in saucepot. Sautee onions until translucent, about 5 min.

2. Throw in garlic, brown for about 1 min.

3. Add first can of black beans. Bring to a boil.

4. Once some of the liquid has boiled off, add the next can. Allow some of the liquid to boil off this as well.

5. Mash with potato masher, spoon, or my personal favorite, the can of beans itself until your mixture reaches desired consistency.

6. Add cheese to help thicken the mix. Continue to mash the beans.

7. Serve alongside your favorite Mexican meal.