Mixed Bean, Onion & Tomato Quesadilla served with side salad
Prep time: 10 minutes / Cooking time: 30 min (depending on how many quesadillas you cook)
Serves 4 to 6
This recipe is vegetarian. This dish contains gluten & milk.
INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
600g tinned mixed beans, drained (reserve 2 tbsp of beans water)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin (optional)
240g cheese, grated
6 flour tortillas
METHOD:
1. Add oil to a frying pan. Add the finely chopped onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes over high heat. Add the chopped chilli and cook for another minute. Add beans, chopped tomatoes, water and cumin (if using). Cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.
2. Place a flour tortilla on a work surface. Sprinkle half of the tortilla with some cheese, top with the bean mix, then top with more cheese and fold in half. Repeat until you have filled them all.
3. Put a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. When hot, place one quesadilla in it pressing down lightly, cook for 3 minutes until the side touching the frying pan is golden and crispy.
4. Carefully turn to the other side (flip over the folded edge to prevent filling from spilling out), press down lightly again and cook without lid for a further 3 minutes until crispy.
5. Remove from the frying pan and repeat with the rest, you could keep them warm in a low oven.
6. When they are all cooked, cut into wedges and serve with a side salad.
TIPS:
✓ The cheese in the quesadillas needs to be melted; if you find that your quesadillas are turning too brown and the cheese is not melting you can always speed up the process by covering the frying pan with a lid for the first 3 minutes while cooking the quesadilla. If you do not have a lid for your frying pan you can use some tin foil or use a metal oven tray that is big enough to cover the frying pan – just be aware that it will get very hot so you will need some oven gloves or a dry kitchen tea-towel to handle it.
✓ You can use any hard cheese that you have available for this recipe.
✓ Quesadillas are a super versatile recipe, as long as you have the tortillas and cheese, the rest of the filling is up to you. You can keep them vegetarian with any combination of vegetables: peppers, sweetcorn, onions, butternut squash, mushrooms… You can also use any type of beans your family prefers: red kidney, black beans, haricot beans … If you have fussy eaters you can choose to mash the beans and vegetables before adding them to the quesadilla (for those that do not like bits). You can add meats too, minced meat, chicken, sausages, chorizo… Just make sure that you cook the vegetables and meats before using them as filling for the quesadillas – and if you are using left overs, make sure that they are piping hot before serving.
✓ You can experiment with different spices for this recipe, cumin is lovely, any Cajun spices will work really well too, you can also add more chilli if you want to make extra spicy.
✓ Serve the quesadillas with some dips like salsa, sour cream or guacamole.
✓ Depending on the size of the tortillas, you may be able to have enough filling for more than six. The smaller the tortillas the more you will be able to fill.
✓ You can make this dish gluten free buy using gluten free tortillas instead.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Nutrition per serving, based on 6 servings per recipe with no added salt and using 10” tortillas:
Serving of 1 quesadilla:
Kcal 448.33
Fat 21.89g
Saturates 10.45g
Carbs 39.85g
Sugars 0.55g
Fibre 5.85g
Protein 20.97g
Salt 2.01g
Serving of 80g side salad (lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes & radishes):
Kcal 9.64
Fat 0.18g
Saturates 0.04g
Carbs 1.51g
Sugars 0g
Fibre 0.56g
Protein 0.53g
Salt 0.01g
Mixed beans a good source of non-animal protein, rich in fibre and a source of iron, various B vitamins and folic acid. 3 tablespoons of mixed beans (also known as legumes) counts as a portion of vegetables.
Cheese a source of protein and fat with only a trace of carbohydrate. An important source of dietary calcium. It can also be high in salt and due to its saturated fat content should be eaten in moderation. A good tip is to buy strong cheeses so you can still get lots of flavour using less.
Cheese is a source of vitamin A. Vitamin A can help your body's natural defence against illness and infection work properly. It can also help your vision.
Tomatoes (a type of fruit) are a good source of potassium, vitamin C, beta-carotene (the body converts this to vitamin A) and lycopene, a natural antioxidant known to have many health benefits. Tomatoes flavour will improve considerably if stored at room temperature.
Garlic & onions are among the vegetables highest in antioxidants and have been shown to help cholesterol levels.
The side salad will provide a portion of vegetables.
