A Bean Primer: Black Bean Quesadillas

I meant to get this posted days ago. But life happens and we've had the sniffles and the snuffles around the house.

I am posting another bean recipe. Yay!

I thought you might be excited.

My friend, Dawn, pointed me to this commercial for Haynes Beans the other day.

Snort.

It really married to of my favorites together. Beans and Sci-Fi.

You got to love beans with a sense of humor.

 This is easy. My intention was to make bean cakes last week, but I didn't get my beans cooked.

I had one little lonely can of black beans in my pantry. It wasn't enough for bean cakes, but certainly enough for something else. We are Mexican food fans so I always have a little bit of this and that. This and that being tortillas, cheese and cilantro. Not to mention a container of homemade salsa hanging out in the fridge.

Listen. You don't have to make your salsa. You can buy the stuff in a jar. No judgement here. My recipe for salsa is so simple. Plus, I am allergic to jalapeno peppers and it saves me reading the back of jars.

Back to the quesadillas. You can also use pinto beans to make them if black beans don't toot your horn.

So I pulled out some stuff I had. This is why onion looks a little sorry. I also got out that Mexican cheese in the background and then decided to do something else. More on that in a minute.

So I chopped up my green pepper and onion and a little garlic.

I then rinsed my beans in a colander and let them sit for a minute so the water could drain out. 

Meanwhile (back at the ranch), I cooked up my veggies until they were tender.

Then I added my drained beans and a can of chicken breast. You don't have to put the chicken in it, but my husband is a carnivore.  I added about 1 tsp. of cumin and used salt and pepper to taste.

I used some regular tortillas to cook up The Muffin and Josiah's quesadillas. I want to share with you, however, how I made mine a bit more diet conscious.

These are my low carb tortillas. Mission also has a brand. These I got at the discount grocery for .99 a package.

I also played a little trick on myself. This Pepper Jack cheese is what my husband eats on his sandwiches. I buy it at Aldi's almost every week. I happen be allergic to jalapeno peppers. I follow the Trim Healthy Mama eating principles (which separates carbs from fats while losing weight) and I didn't want to be tempted to help myself to more servings than I needed. So I made The Muffin's and Josiah's quesadillas (plus a few extra) with this Pepper Jack cheese. Problem solved. I happen to not like swelling up like a basketball.

But how can I get a nice cheesy taste? I saw this another blog (can't remember where). I used the Happy Farms Light Spreadable Cheese Wedge. They are the Aldi version of Lite Laughing Cow. I also use this trick when having a sandwich with Ezekiel or sprouted grain bread. Yum!

I just took one wedge and spread it all over my tortilla.

Like this.. Then I put some of my bean and veggie mix on the tortilla and folded it in half.

I fried up the quesadillas in my non-stick skillet with just a tad bit of coconut oil.

I served it with my salsa, some fat free Greek Yogurt and baked brown rice with a little cilantro and lemon.

I am not going to give you a proper recipe this time. I think quesadillas are really subject to taste. For these quesadillas I used one onion, 1 green pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, a handful of chopped cilantro, 1 can of black beans and 1 can of chicken breast. I am not sure how much cheese I used. I think it wound up making 6-7 quesadillas. You can either put the mixture between 2 tortillas or make the budget version and use just one (folded in half).

You could use kind of veggies you have on hand. Just chop them up and saute them.

This week I am using a container a pinto beans my mom sent home with me to make bean burritos. I tend to use what I have on hand. I'll share how it goes.