Do It Your Way Quesadilla
Control Your Destiny with the Easy and Very Versatile Quesadilla
Express yourself and satisfy your hunger at the same time with this creative and delicious meal or snack, good for any time of day or night.
Frank Sinatra probably wasn’t singing about food when he crooned his famous signature anthem to independent thinking, but the spirit is the same. Whether you’re heading out into your day to take what ever comes your way, but need a good breakfast beforehand. Or, you’ve just gotten home from an adventurous night out and you’re starving, or you just need to make something easy and quick anytime of day or night with whatever is available in the kitchen, the infinitely versatile quesadilla can take just about anything you have to offer. So go on, do it your way.
A Few Basics
There are a few basic things to consider before cooking your great quesadilla. These aren’t rules to bog down the independent chef, but only some guidelines to help guarantee you end up with something that is tasty to eat and not a big gloppy mess.
First consideration is that flour tortillas work better than corn, which tend to flake apart if handled too much. Plain ones are more versatile than those flavored with spinach or tomato, but that’s not a rule, just an observation.
Secondly, because the cooking time for the quesadilla is short, all the ingredients that are going to go inside the quesadilla, except for things like cheese or salsa, should be cooked beforehand. Meats must be cooked thoroughly beforehand. Leftover meats, such as roasted chicken or pork, cooked sausage, or canned meats, such as chicken or tuna, are perfect for quesadillas. (Note, ingredients can be cold, but they should be cooked.) Deli meats, like ham, bologna, or proscuitto work well, too.
A good cooking spray—not to much—and a flat hot cooking surface, like a griddle or frying pan large enough so that the tortilla can lay flat, are all that’s needed. (Of course, you can make quesadillas in the microwave, but the tortilla can get rubbery and does not get that crisp, restaurant-grade outside texture that give a quesadilla that satisfying crunch.)
Now you’re good to go. Below is a simple recipe to get you started, but feel free to improvise, sing a new tune, march to a different drummer…. You get the idea.
Basic Quesadillas
- 2 plain flour tortillas
- ¾ cup of desired ingredient (meat, scrambled eggs, rice, beans, sautéed or roasted vegetables)
- ½ cup of grated cheese*
- 3 tablespoons of salsa, if desired
*Any kind of cheese that melts well will work. For Mexican dishes, use Montery Jack, Colby, or a mix of both. Go Italian and use mozzarella. Go French, and use gruyere.
Directions:
- Heat a griddle or frying pan that is large enough to fit entire tortilla so it lays flat. Spray lightly with a nonstick cooking spray.
- When surface is hot, place one tortilla down, cover with other ingredients, then cheese, and finish with salsa. Leave a half-inch border all the way around. (Be careful not to overfill tortilla—the toppings will only spill out and it will be messy and hard to flip.) Top with remaining tortilla. Gently press down with spatula.
- Cook until cheese is melted, about 2-3 minutes.
- Flip and cook other side for about 1 minute.
- Remove from heat, cut into quarters, and serve with sour cream and more salsa, if desired.
Makes 1 serving.
Try these other tasty and trusty tortilla recipes:
