Thursday, June 24, 2010

Pinto Bean & Corn Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are one of my go to dinners when I need something fast.

How easy is it to fold some fillings into a tortilla with some cheese and heat it?

More often than not, when I make quesadillas, I do kind of a Quesadilla Bar. But I wanted to try something different.

To start, I made a different version of my Smoky Mexican Chicken, by just doing it in the crock pot. I needed much less liquid in the crockpot. And since the liquids don't cook down and concentrate, it turned out to be a much more mild shredded chicken. So it was even more versatile AND convenient, because I just threw everything into the crock pot and went to work.

There are no real measurements here, I was just kinda winging it. Tweak it to your family's preferences.

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Pinto Bean & Corn Chicken Quesadillas
Large flour tortillas
Shredded chicken
Pinto beans, drained & rinsed (about a cup)
Corn (a big handful or about a cup)
Onion, diced (1/2 - 3/4 of a smallish onion)
Garlic, minced (a couple of cloves)
Green Chiles, diced (a couple spoonfuls)
Lime Juice (about a tablespoon)
Cumin (a big pinch)
Salt & Pepper
ColbyJack & PepperJack cheese, shredded

In a skillet saute onion & garlic until tender. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 of a can of pinto beans. Or about a cup, if you're starting with beans you cooked from dry. Add a couple big spoonfuls of diced green chiles, and a handful of corn. I used frozen corn. You can use fresh kernels, canned, whatever you have on hand. Add lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper.

Cook until heated through.

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Ok filling is ready!

Cover half of a large flour tortilla with cheese.

I put colbyjack on the bottom.
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Top that with shredded chicken.
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Then then bean mixture.
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Top with some more cheese.
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I used pepperjack this time to spice it up a little.

Now fold it in half.
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This time I cooked them in a hot, lightly oiled, cast iron skillet, instead of my Foreman Grill.

Give it a couple minutes, until it gets nice and golden, then flip it.
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Cook on that side until it's nice and crispy and golden and you're done!

Cut it into 3 or 4 pieces.

I love them with guacamole and salsa.
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We really liked the pintos in the quesadillas. I'll definitely be making these again!

You know what makes the PERFECT dinner?

A Quesadilla paired with Tortilla Soup!

If you're looking for a nice little collection of Tortilla Soup recipes... check out girlichef's Tortilla Soup Challenge by clicking the badge below!
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Find some new Tortilla Soup recipes or add your own to her list!

I had leftovers of chicken, the bean mixture, beans, corn, and green chiles... see what I did with them tomorrow!

3 comments:

Heather S-G said...

Rock on! Thanks for the awesome shout-out...I need all the help I can get!! Your quesadillas look deeeelicious! Those are pretty much our go-to meal around here, as well =)

Patti T. said...

My mouth is watering. They look absolutely delicious. Guess I will have to start keeping pinto beans on hand. I just got my grand daughter to eat black beans, maybe this will be my next attempt at getting her to like beans.

Unknown said...

These look amazing! I love quesadillas!! especially when they're packed with all sorts of goodness. Have you ever made them on a grill? whooole other flavor dimension :)