everyday cooking

[pantryslut]

You don't think I eat all fancy every day, do you? Not hardly.

Today for dinner, I had corn and zucchini quesadillas.

Shave one ear of corn. Dice a zucchini (actually, a yellow summer squash in my case; green zucchini makes for a nicer color contrast, but I didn't have any).

Throw both in a small saute pan with some olive oil (or corn oil, or butter, or some other cooking fat). Sprinkle on a little salt, a little cumin, a little chili powder. Cook for a bit -- it doesn't take long. This is just to take the raw edge off. You could keep going until things started to brown, if you wanted, but we were hungry. You could also add a diced jalapeno or other hot pepper, if you had one. I didn't. And of course there are zillions of other fillings you could try, but corn and squash is what I had in the fridge.

Heat another pan, large enough to hold a whole tortilla. (Cast iron pans are perfect for this). Place -- you guessed it -- a whole tortilla in the warm pan. I used big flour tortillas because despite my family's heritage, I am still a white girl and I heart flour tortillas. Grate some cheese right onto half of the tortilla. I used white Mexican cheese to make up for the gringo tortilla choice. Also because that's what was at the store. I won't mind if you use Monterey Jack, or "Mexican blend," or even cheddar. I promise.

When the cheese starts to melt, add the filling, right on top. Fold the tortilla over, press down with a spatula, and then gently flip. Cook for just half a minute or so. Remove from the pan. Cut into wedges (or not). Eat with sour cream and/or salsa.

This is *fast* food, and it's delicious and fresh and full of vegetables, too. Yeah.

Comments

[fattest.livejournal.com]

Mmm!

[divalano.livejournal.com]

That sounds yum. Will remember it, even if I'm in NYC & we don't have proper tortillas & Mex white cheese (unless I'm uptown at DeLano's, but he won't eat squash so ...)

I invented my new favorite summer salad yesterday. Marinate some shrimp (halved legnthwise) in olive oil, Lan Chi chili garlic paste & pureed ginger (I get it in a jar from the Indian mkt.) Toss mixed greens, diced pear, minced red onion, cubed avocado, pignoli nuts, s&p. Sautee shrimp in a little more olive oil. When done squeeze half a lemon into the pan. Throw shrimps in salad. Add a tiny teeny bit of sesame lime dressing (pan juices dress salad, mostly) to boal.

Make yumming & chewing noises.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Oh, this sounds lovely!

[black-pearl-10.livejournal.com]

It was yummy yummy.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I use corn tortillas, of course, and I also like how they fit perfectly into my cast-iron pan. I use 2 tortillas because they don't bend like flour does. And then I let them sit on the round cutting board (round tortillas! round cutting board! it's perfect) to cool while I'm making the next one, so that I can cut them into wedges without all the cheese etc squooshing out.

I also like to put random stuff into mine (they're like omelettes in that ability) but I learned the hard way that sour cream is a bad idea. It tastes good but gets *very* squooshy.

(Next month, when it's cold at night again, let's do another hot-chocolate comparison tasting. We hardly scratched the surface before.)

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Yes, sour cream is best on the side when it comes to quesadillas.

And: mmm, hot chocolate!