Thursday, September 13, 2012

When Nick Wants a Quesadilla...


Nick's idea of a quesadilla used to be two white flour tortillas loaded with chicken, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. Not anymore. Nope. Now he actually enjoys my updated versions of his old favorites, such as this chicken and spinach quesadilla.


Chicken and Spinach Quesadilla
(Serves one very hungry person or two people)


Ingredients
2 soft whole grain tortillas (gluten free options are available)
2 cups raw spinach
5 ounces grilled chicken
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheese
2 slices nitrate-free bacon
1/2 cup black beans, strained and rinsed



Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Layer one tortilla on a baking sheet and layer ingredients in order of the list above (with the beans going on last)
3. Top with the second tortilla
4. If you want, add more cheese on top
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes


Wow, that's a lot of white in the photo above. Sorry. I'm still learning how to use my new camera. It's awesome, but I still need work on my nighttime photos! You still get the idea that this was delicious, right?!




Estimated Nutrition Facts
(Serving size: 1 entire quesadilla)
(** Note, I used tortillas that were only 60 calories each **)
Nick loved this quesadilla, by the way, and I did too (I had mine with some plain Greek yogurt as the "sour cream", and I only ate half and saved the other half for the following day). It surely beats this "quesadilla" below, which is from a certain company who makes frozen meals.....gross.




Question: What's your favorite ingredient in a quesadilla? Did you know that some restaurant quesadillas ("appetizers") provide over 1000 calories?! And on top of that they provide more than a day's worth of sodium. No bueno.

18 comments :

  1. I like mushrooms and beans in tortilla. I love hs you add avocado in it, it must taste great and moisture! need to make some for myself too! :)

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  2. I like black beans, tomatoes, and a sprinkling of cheese. We use greek yogurt as sour cream but I don't tell the kids!

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  3. Avocado is basically my favorite ingredient in everything...or alone. So creamy and delicious.

    This looks so good and way better than the packaged one...that looks gross!

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  4. I love Quesadillas! My favorite toppings are black beans, spinach and avocado. Mmmmm. So good.

    I usually make quesadillas in my panini maker - much faster then baking.

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  5. Yum-- I love the addition of bacon here!! I rarely think to make or order quesadillas, but Ryan is a huge fan. I should make these for him :-)

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  6. Quesadillas are my all time favorite food....I don't order them out very often, but when I do, it is definitively worth the splurge!

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  7. Avocado makes pretty much anything more delicious! :)

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  8. It's been a while since I made homemade quesadillas. Thanks for the inspiration! I usually like to incorporate cheese, salsa, and beans.

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  9. between your cod skewers and your quesadillas i kiiiiind of want to move in with you...

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  10. Great quesadilla!!! And I love how much our taste buds can change!

    I like black beans, avocado and tomatoes/fresh salsa and just a little bit of cheese in my quesadillas.

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  11. I love just about everything but the kitchen sink in my quesadillas. They can almost be called a taco or burrito. It's all about the veggies in there :)

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  12. Wow, I don't ever eat quesadillas because I don't like cheese... which kind of defeats the purpose, BUT this actually looks like something I might consider making without the cheese haha. Can you please tell me where/what brand of tortillas are only 60 calories? I feel like everytime I look at the calorie counts on those things it's just ridiculous. I feel like I'm usually better off having a piece of bread!

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  13. mmmm

    my favorite is definitely avocado. its just the best.

    restaurant quesadillas are ridiculous. i love Blockheads in NYC, they offer yummy mexican faves with lower calorie substitutes. check it out :)

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  14. Yours sounds right up my alley,minus the bacon. I use Greek yogurt all the time for any sub...sour cream, mayo, dressing. I like how flaky the quesidella look. YUM!!!

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  15. Yums that looks so great! I love adding avocado to mine and reduced fat cheese and lots and lots of salsa! ha

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  16. I love quesadillas, and this one has all my favourite flavours in it - perfect!

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  17. Love this quesadilla combination Gina! Sadly, I find tasty gluten-free "flour" tortilla options sadly lacking, so I usually use corn.

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  18. quesadilla serves as dinner or meal for me :)

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