Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

Simple ingredients, beautiful colors

Ah the quesadilla. One of the most versatile, simple and down right delicious dishes out there. Cheap to make, and easy to stuff full of any vegetable you like. 

This week I have been riding the sick train to feeling yucky-ville, so have mostly been eating soup and toast, which sustains me but makes for a boring blog entry. I am feeling a bit better, and am ready to get my appetite and blog back on track. I missed a few days in a row of my spirulina smoothie and I suppose that was enough to let those sneaky germs in. So sneaky they are! 

My plan was to make a few varieties of quesadillas this week, but since I was interrupted by the sick train, I got a little of schedule. Not to fear, lots of yummy dishes to come. I must start with the zucchini because I bought it on Sunday and its starting to look like its headed for the Mr. Trashcan, but not if I can help it!

A simple trick to making your quesadillas healthier, is making sure you have more vegetables than cheese. The cheese is there to hold the dish together, but it should not be the main ingredient. I know in a perfect world cheese would be the main ingredient in every dish, but alas our world is far from perfect. So we must struggle through and use our cheese sparingly, as to not have the oh so unattrative cheese on our ass. I for one am looking a bit "cheesy" in some unattractive places and need to work really hard to eat healthier and exercise more.

The ingredients that I used worked wonderfully together, but you can use almost any vegetable you have around. I try to make sure I use vegetables with different textures, the crunch of the corn and the softness of the zucchini and onion balance each other beautifully. Whatever you use, just make sure you cook them first, because the vegetables will not cook in the oven.

For the zucchini, it does not matter how you cut them, you just need to make sure they are all the same size and that they are bite sized. Usually I cut them in semi-circles and they are fine, but I bought ridiculously huge zucchini so had to cut them into half moons and then half those.

A side of steamed broccoli or green beans goes great with this dish, or even a simple green salad. Just make sure you get your greens in!

Zucchini and Corn Quesadillas

The Goods: Serves 4, increase as needed

4 whole wheat tortillas

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 medium zucchini, halved and then thinly sliced crosswise

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro(optional)

2 tablespoon grape seed oil or canola oil

The Deal:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the grapeseed oil on medium heat in a medium saute pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add onions and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add zucchini and corn to onion mixture and cook until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro if using.

3. Grease a cookie sheet and brush 2 tortillas with spray or oil and place them oil side down on a large baking sheet. Place a half of the zucchini filling on each tortilla, then half of the cheese, then the top with remaining two tortillas.

4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, flipping once to ensure even browning. Remove when tortilla is lightly golden and cheese is bubbling. Cut into wedges. Serve with salsa or your favorite hot sauce. Tapatio Yo!