06 March 2008

Black Bean and Tomato Quesadillas

I want to share with you all one of my favorite, easy, meatless recipes! I know half of you glazed over as soon as you read the word "meatless," but please read on! I am just as much of a carnivore as the next person and I really enjoy good meat, but sometimes it is good to get a meal that has more fruits and veggies. And it is economical! So here it is:


Black Bean & Tomato Quesadillas
  • 1 can diced tomato (I like a diced fire roasted tomato), drained
  • 2/3 cup black beans (rinsed if canned)
  • 2/3 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
  • 1/3 cup chopped onion
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I frequently used dried)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • 1 1/2 c. shredded cheese
  • 6 flour tortillas

The first thing you do is mix up all the ingredients except for the cheese and tortillas in a bowl. This makes a really yummy salsa that is good for many things. I use it with tortilla chips or on top of a salad for a mexican salad lunch. This also gets better with time, so make it the day ahead if you remember, and be sure to save any leftovers when you are done assembling the quesadillas for another use!

After the salsa is prepared, heat a pan on the stove over medium heat and put some good ol' butter in it. This makes the quesadillas nice and brown and crispy on the outside and adds some great flavor to the tortillas. Once the pan is hot, lay a tortilla in it and top one half of the tortilla with a small handful of cheese.



Top this with about 1/4 cup of the salsa mixture. I also like to put a little bit of cheese on top of that before folding it over so that when I flip the tortilla, there is melted cheese on both sides keeping it closed. And, how can you go wrong with more cheese??

Fold over the other half of the tortilla and do another one on the other side of the pan. Let these brown for about three minutes on each side until the cheese is melted and the salsa is warm. A tip -when you flip these, lift the open side, not the folded side, to keep as much of the salsa in the tortilla as possible! Remove the finished quesadillas to a warm oven to keep them yummy while you make more! If you cover these to keep them warm, they will get soggy!



When these are done, they will look like this:
Cut them into wedges with your trusty pizza slicer and enjoy! I like to serve these with a hearty fruit salad!

How yummy is that?? Start to finish, this meal only takes about 20 minutes, so it is perfect for a busy weeknight!

14 comments:

Renna said...

Yum, that looks delicious! Though we are meat eaters around our house, I've discovered black bean soft tacos are delicious (simply substitute taco meat with black beans), so I've no doubt we'll like your quesadillas! :-)

Anonymous said...

These look great! We have been eating lots of black beans around here, so these will be perfect for us!

Leah said...

you know, for a recipe called "black bean and tomato quesadillas" i find it slightly odd that there are no black beans in the list of ingredients *grin*

Joanna said...

YUMMY!!!!!! i think i found dinner for tonight. you know what's weird? ella has been asking me all morning long and yesterday evening for tortillas. i keep making pita instead. looks like she'll get her wish. thanks johanna!!!

Unknown said...

oh! these look so good! looks like we'll be eating black bean and tomato quesadillas and chicken purses next week. how did the chicken purses turn out?

Johanna said...

Leah, I have *no* idea what you are talking about! ::she grins sheepishly::

Thanks for the heads up! What an important ingredient to leave out!

Johanna said...

Marie, I haven't made the chicken purses yet! The only ingredient in them that I had in the house at the time that I found them was chicken, and it was frozen. But, I got the other ingredients today and will make them soon. Well, probably not until Monday. You motivated me to actaully make a menu, so I plan to join you on a Meal Plan Monday list. Are you going to do it again? it would be so much fun if we all did because we could steal ideas from each other! When I do make them, I'll post it though! You'll have to do the same and we can see if they look the same...

Unknown said...

Isn't it great how we motivate each other to be productive?!! My meal plan is getting pushed back because Shane is trying to make hamburgers on his new grill. But yesterday it was too windy (one drawback of being on the 9th floor). I've only made the tamle casserole, which doesn't taste anything like tamales to me, but it was pretty good considering how super easy it was. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food I make. So, you'll probably get to the chicken purses before me, but I will make them right after the other two meals I have planned out. It's so nice to not have to think about what to cook!

Tonia said...

Oh my - your pictures are making me hungry! I love beans and am always trying to find new recipes for them - thanks for sharing this one!

Anonymous said...

We love all things black bean and/or quesadilla at our house; yours look delicious. But I had to comment because of your snow pics! I live in Keller, Tx & we have a stunning white blanket of snow here now. So unusual & special, isn't it? Oh, I'm Plumpudding Megan's mom.

Tina said...

I am a huge fan of anything in a tortilla and LOVE blackbeans. Thanks for the recipe. Can't wait to try it!

Joanna said...

so we had these for dinner last night. this from the mouth of sarah (THE pickiest eater on earth...ok, maybe in brandon, ok in this house), "mom, these are really good." she ate 3/4 of an entire quesadilla, like not folded in half but one tortilla, filling, another tortilla. wow! del was really impressed, too and kept commenting on how good they were. so it was a success! delicious!

Johanna said...

Nanna J: It is quite amazing to see snow in March, especially after having such warm weather. We have snow again this morning too! Thanks for visiting and commenting on our blog!

Joanna: I am so glad that Sarah and Del liked the quesadillas! They are a favorite for me and Jerry. Ethan likes them too, but our pickiest eater goes on and on about how he hates these, and then eats some anyway! Go figure...

Kainoa said...

what about adding grilled chicken to those? They look incredible!!!