Spinach, Feta, and White Bean Quesadilla

Tags

brunch, feta cheese, light dinner, light lunch, quesadilla, quick dinner, spinach, vegetarian

Before I really knew what I was getting myself into with regards the cooking for my new boy, I was menu planning with great excitement. BR is a regular dinner guest and I am more eager to get home and cook. I really get a kick out of trying new things and making bellies happy. A challenge I have is making things that are healthy for me and still hearty enough for the likes of BR. BR is a guys’ guy. When he sits down to a meal, he doesn’t care what’s on the plate as long as there is meat. It never fails that whenever I ask him what he feels like for dinner, he replies “meat”.

I found this recipe for a spinach and feta quesadilla on the weight watchers website.  It looked simple enough to make with ingredients that I usually have on hand anyway. The only modification I made was adding shredded rotisserie chicken to BR’s quesadilla to bulk it up for him.

Ingredients:
2 sprays of cooking spray
1 bunch of scallions
1 clove of garlic, minced
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
¼ cup fat free feta cheese, crumbled
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp fat free half and half
4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
½ cup part skim mozzarella, shredded
¼ cup cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 medium flour tortillas

(ADD 1-2 Chicken Breasts, shredded to the mix to bulk up the protein…or for the eaters in your life that MUST have MEAT)

Directions:
Coat a 10 inch skillet coated with cooing spray and heat over medium high. Add scallions and garlic. Sauté for 1 minute. Stir in spinach. Cook through until spinach is hot , about 3 minutes.
Add feta cheese, parmesan, half and half, cream cheese, mozzarella, beans, pepper and lemon juice. Stir until well combined.

Spread ½ cup of the spinach spread onto the bottom half of the flour tortilla. Fold to create a half circle and crisp up on a pan that was sprayed with cookin spray.

Toast the tortilla on each side (about 4 minutes).

Remove from heat and serve immediately with sour cream and salsa.

Quesadillas are simple enough to make and can be quite versatile. These quesadillas should be enjoyed fresh. They lose a lot of the crispness after they sit for a while or even after refrigeration. But if you must have leftovers, heat them in the toaster oven and top with a fried egg for a healthy brunch!

Sausage and egg Quesadilla

Tags

avocado, breakfast, egg, quesadilla, recipes, sausage

While I was packing my kitchen up, I came across a little booklet in the “menu” drawer of a weekly dinner plan. I opened it up and remembered how I began planning my meals to save money. One of the first things I made from that list was from the Rachael Ray magazine. A Bacon and Egg Quesadilla.

Drawing some inspiration from there, I decided to make a sausage and egg quesadilla. The only thing I forgot to add was cheese but it still works without it.

Ingredients: (makes 6 quesadillas)

1 lb spicy sausage (casings removed)

6 fried eggs

6 (8”) whole wheat tortillas

1 avocado

salsa (optional)

 

Directions: I decided to make the sausage into patties to make life easier.

Form the sausage into patties and cook through. Once cooked, assemble the quesadilla by placing the sausage on one half of the tortilla, place the fried egg on top, and top with  sliced avocado.

Fold in half and using a pan, toast it up.

Normally, one would place cheese in the quesadilla… this is the glue that keeps it together.

And I realized that while I was trying to seal up the quesadilla…and while it got toasty, it didn’t stay shut.

So I decided to fold it like a burrito and toast it

And the results were waaaaaaay better.

This is quite filling. And so simple! I kind of ate this for a week straight.

Could you blame me though???