Easy Quesadillas

I went to a Chili’s restaurant for the first time last week. I’m not terribly fond of Mexican food, and I admit I did hesitate a little when going in there. But I ordered some chicken quesadillas, and they were quite yummy. I was astonished at the portion sizes there, I couldn’t even eat half of what they served! I took the rest home for the kids to try. They thought it was Greek pizza!

Well, all this quesadilla eating started to make me want to try cooking some. So I gave it a shot. My concoction turned out pretty good– very basic but nutritious. I decided to add more veggies and less meat in mine, to pack a vitamin punch; not as potent as, say, prenatal vitamins, but pretty good. Of course, there’s alwats room for improvement. Here’s my basic recipe.

Easy Quesadillas

Chicken breasts- boned, skinned and thinly sliced
White onion
Water
Chili powder
Cumin
Fresh or frozen corn kernels
Red pepper, diced
Kale, destemmed and chopped
Shredded cheese
Tortilla wraps (smaller ones work best)
Butter

Cook the chicken, onion, and spices together in a frying pan. Add a little water if necessary. Add the vegetables and cook until just tender.

Butter one side of each tortilla. Place it on a griddle and sprinkle the cheese. Add a scoop of the chicken and veggies. Fry another tortilla and add a little cheese to that. Once the tortillas turn a golden brown, slap the two together to make the quesadilla. Repeat with additional quesadillas.

I served mine with salsa, but there’s also the traditional sour cream, too. These are even good as leftovers- I had one the next day for lunch, and while the tortilla was a little rubbery, it was still very good.

Manhattan Clam & Fish Chowder

As is my custom, I took a “basic” clam chowder recipe and tinkered with it somewhat. The original recipe calls for bacon, green peppers, and minced clams. I replaced the bacon with sausage, the green peppers with red peppers, and added minced clams but also added some leftover whiting fillets. The additions made for a rich, rich luxurious chowder (see photo, although that’s before the stuff was cooked). Serve with freshly baked garlic bread for the WOW factor. Oh, be sure to wash your feet before serving, so that your family can kiss them after dinner. This is THAT good.

Manhattan Clam & Fish Chowder
Serves 8– leftover soup tastes even better
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato paste
3 cans (undrained) minced clams
1 pound ground sausage, cooked and drained of fat
1 white onion
1/2 red pepper, diced
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 cup carrots, cut into very small circle or matchsticks
4-5 fillets of fish (cooked) (Optional)
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1/2 Tablespoon dried oregano

Add all the ingredients into a very large crockpot or Dutch oven. Stir well.

If using the crockpot, set on LOW for 8-10 hours, or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
If using the Dutch oven, turn on medium. Get the chowder simmering, then, cover the pot and turn down to medium-low. Stir frequently and adjust burner as needed so that the chowder does not burn.

Like many chowders and stews, this one gets better the longer it is allowed to sit. You can always make this ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator for a day or two while you go about your merry way buying cheap eyeglasses or whatever…. then reheat and serve. It’s very good. I suppose you could add kielbasa or shrimp to make it into a “gumbo” type of stew, too.

Enjoi!
Allow to cool SLIGHTLY, then serve with hot bread.

The Everything Casserole

While I am not a big fan of casseroles (making them or eating them), my daughter threw this together today and it was good!

We wanted to use up a lot of the leftovers in the fridge, and make something hearty, to boot. Here’s our potpourri of ingredients (sorry about the small photo, you practically need a barska to see everything):

The Everything Casserole

Made TWO casseroles, one for tonight, another for Sunday afternoon

Leftover vegetables (about 2 cups)
Leftover rice (1 cup)
Cooked pasta
Leftover or canned spaghetti sauce (about 30 oz or so)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 boxes cooked and drained penne rigata pasta
1 pound cooked sausage
Some basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2-3 handfuls of fresh chopped kale

Stir the sauce and seasonings into the pasta. Add the sausage, rice, veggies, and 2 cups of the cheese. Stir and set in two casserole dishes. Top with the rest of the cheese.

It came out so delicious!

It’s also a great way to get more kale into the diet. Kale is so good for you. I eat some raw every day, and we add it to everything– rice, fish dishes, sandwiches.

Yummy Lunch

My daughter put this plate of leftovers together for me. WOW, it’s terrific! Looks simple, and it IS simple, but so healthy.

The dish uses all leftovers. The daughter quickly steamed some broccoli and kale, and placed it on a plate of leftover Jasmine rice. She dribbled a little bit of leftover pot roast broth and a dash of soy sauce on the rice. She toasted some leftover Panera bread and buttered it with garlic butter. Voila! Instant, super-healthy lunch. It was so good, and so filling.

Chili in a Wok

It looks terrible! But it was incredibly savory. The kids moaned when they saw it, and it is awfully ugly, but we had no leftovers! I call it Chili in a Wok, because it tastes like chili but it’s not as tomatoe-y. It was really easy to make and it used up some stuff we had in the fridge. Vest of all, it’s incredibly nutritious. It has three types of beans, and with the rice, the meal makes a complete protein– next best thing to cow’s or breast-milk, eh?– and very, very healthful.

Chili in a Wok
Olive oil
Boneless pork steaks, cut into strips
White onion, diced
Garlic, chopped
Canned beans: I used 1 can of kidney, 1 can of northern, and 1 can of garbanzo.
Kale, chopped in small sections
1 small can V-8 tomato juice (8 oz)
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt

In a wok, heat up the oil. Toss in the pork. When it starts to cook through, add the onion and garlic. Allow the pork to cook entirely. Open the cans of beans and drain the liquid entirely. I also rinse them to remove the goopy liquid. Add the beans to the wok, and gently stir.

Add the tomato juice, kale, and seasonings. Cook, stirring, until the kale begins to soften.

Serve with jasmine or basmati rice.

Now, my dish was a little on the spicy side because I used a lot of chili powder and cumin. You can adjust the recipe according to your likes.

So while this dish won’t win any beauty contests, it’s great comfort food for a cold, nasty day (which it was, that November evening). It’s easy to make and so healthy! I’ll be doing this one again.

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