Look, I know I don’t need to tell you about quesadillas, but I’m gonna, anyway. It’s the school holidays! I don’t know about you, but I’m halfway up the wall with all the (play) fighting (which always ends up the same way as the real kind), the mess and the lack of any kind of volume control, not to mention the destruction of neighbours’ property (don’t ask). Of course the upside is the weather has been gorgeous, we've had some lovely trips out, and we can all still be in our pyjamas at 10am if we like...
But then there’s the need to prepare another meal in the day at which the wretched ingrates lovely children can turn up their noses*. These lovely people have given me lots of great ideas (I have puff pastry in the fridge! Result!) and here’s another: quesadillas. They’re quick, they’re versatile, they’re what’s for lunch. I like to use a wholewheat or a seeded tortilla, much as the kids would rather I went with plain white. And if I don’t have tortillas to hand, I make do with pitas.
Just in case you’ve never made these before, heat a non-stick frying pan about the size of your flour tortilla, sprinkle your fillings over the tortilla (not too much or they get unmanageable) and fold in half before placing in the pan, two at a time, back to back, as it were. Press them down with a fish slice and flip them over after a couple of minutes, then remove and slice into wedges to serve with the fruits and vegetables your children will tolerate. You'll note that BG is more into veggies than GB. As long as he has some fruit I don't sweat this too much until dinner time.
I could claim that mine love nothing better than tucking into a venison and Roquefort quesadilla, with just a touch of wild rocket and chilli jam, but clearly I’d be lying. They like cheese. Just cheese. With maybe a smidge of ketcup. Sometimes they’ll accept ham or tuna with the cheese, sometimes not. Sometimes they’ll admit some sweetcorn.
But I’m sure you’ll have better luck than me! What about trying some chorizo or parma ham with mozzarella (and a few leaves of basil)?, brie and cranberry sauce? Goat’s cheese and pesto? Some shredded leftover roast chicken with hoisin sauce and sliced spring onion? Sorry, I'm in fantasy-land here... But I think that the point of this dish is rather that everybody can have something to suit their tastes, while all (apparently) eating the same thing.
*for reasons not terribly hard to fathom (they’re hungry!) breakfast is never an issue. You’d think I would learn from this and not succumb to endless clamouring for snacks between meals. You’d think that, yeah.
Family friendliness rating: See above
Cleanup rating: One pan (which won’t get dirty). A prep/chopping board. A knife
Can I freeze it?: The tortillas (or pita) themselves make a great freezer standby
oooh quesadillas - a staple in our house - other ideas for cheese/veg combinations: cheese with peas; cheese with mushrooms chopped up small; very thinly sliced courgette (i use a cheese slicer). Double gloucester works well - seems to have less fat than cheddar therefore less greasy result. Mashed avocado is always a winner - in fact, avocado with manchego (and a bit of rocket) is one of my favourites!
ReplyDeleteBuen provecho as they'd say in Mexico ;-)
Brie and cranberry or brie and mango are my favourites, but like your kids, my two much prefer just normal cheese. Funnily enough we had these for lunch today.
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