Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Squash and Bean Quesadillas

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Squash and Bean Quesadillas

We had another winner last night. These quesadillas were really good. They were filling, spicy, and oddly authentic tasting for a more 'fusion' style meal.

A couple of notes: You could easily eat this without the tortilla. Just serve the roasted veggies and bean mixture over a bed of quinoa, top with guacamole and salsa and you'd be good to go. Also, I roasted my veggies and cooked my beans ahead of time, so this meal only took about 30-35 minutes. I just prepared the guacamole, heated and spiced the beans, and got all the 'fixings' together while the quinoa was cooking.

Before I go to the recipe I want to make one plea - don't fear frying your burritos or quesadillas. Use coconut oil and not very much of it at all. This doesn't add any significant amount of fat to the meal, the coconut oil does not release free radicals when heated, it only takes five minutes and it takes the meal to another level. I highly recommend trying it this way at least once.

















Squash and Bean Quesadillas
Serves 3 (enough for Brett to have the leftovers for lunch)

1 zucchini, roasted and sliced
1 yellow squash, roasted and sliced
hot peppers, roasted and sliced (I used a habanero, jalapeno and serrano)
1/2 red bell pepper, roasted and sliced
1/2 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup navy beans, cooked
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
chipotle chili powder
Mexican oregano
ground coriander
cumin
salt
vegan monterey jack cheese (optional)

tortillas
guacamole
salsa

Preheat oven to 425.

Heat some coconut oil on a baking sheet.

Wash and cut zucchini and squash in half. Place on baking sheet and roast in oven for 20-25 minutes or until soft and skin of veggies slightly blistered.

Let cool for a few minutes, then slice.

While veggies are roasting, cook quinoa.

In a small skillet, heat some water and add onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 7-10 minutes.

Heat beans. Toss with spices to taste. Add in hot peppers.

In a large skillet heat a little coconut oil in the pan.

Layer quinoa, roasted squash and bean mixture into a warmed tortilla topping with optional cheese before folding the tortilla in half.

Carefully place quesadilla on hot skillet and fry on each side until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes for each side. Make sure to keep an eye of the tortilla to prevent burnage.

Top quesadilla with guacamole salsa.

'Til next time.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's safe to say you are the tortilla/quesadilla/burrito queen!!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Looks so healthy and filling! Those are my favorite kinds of dinners (well, anything involved guac is good in my book). Also, I have been using coconut oil more and more lately and have really liked the results. I know the skinny bitch authors are real excited about it...

ChickPea said...

Looks fantastic! I especially love the healthy dose of guac:) Where does one buy coconut oil?

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I love the idea of putting the guacamole on the top!

Bianca said...

That looks delicious, especially with the guac spread over the top. I love to eat guacomole straight from the bowl. Who needs chips when it tastes so good?

BTW, I've been using coconut oil too, after reading Skinny Bitch. I was scared of the sat fat content at first, but the more I read about it, the better I feel about using it.

VeganCowGirl said...

These look amazing and I even have a ripe little avocado screaming out to become a guac! Excellent tip on the frying. ANd I agree with CCV - putting the guac on top is a great idea.

Thanks loads.

Rural Vegan said...

The filling looks so filling and nutritious, but I really fell in love seeing it covered in guacamole!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

MMMM. I know my husband and kids will *love* this.

Unknown said...

You are becoming my queen of Mexican food. The tortilla/quesadilla/burrito looks delicious. Thanks for your great comment about Tibet.

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

you are the queen of mexican inspired foods!

J said...

Romina - Aw! Thanks! I take that as a high compliment, coming from the Pasta Queen. ;-)

Vegan_Noodle - I love how healthy AND tasty Mexican (or inspired) food can be. I am obsessed with guac, Brett is too, we eat it probably 2-3 times a week. I like using coconut oil, it doesn't take nearly as much of it as other oils either and has a very neutral flavor.

Chickpea - Thanks! I love guac (as I'm sure you could tell). I imagine you could find coconut oil at most any grocery store, I've seen it at both of the grocery stores near my home, if you have a Whole Foods or Wild Oats, you should definitely be able to find it there. I buy Spectrum brand. In my grocery store it is located in the 'health food' section, not in the 'regular' section where all the other oils are.

Chocolate Covered - It's my favorite way to do it.

Bianca - I feel the exact same way about guac, I can just eat it by itself.

Skinny Bitch was a good book. I don't worry about saturated fat really, as I said to Vegan Noodle, I don't have to use nearly as much of it as I do other oils.

Miss Blueberry - Oooooh, a ripe avocado SHOULD be begging to be guac, it's the best use for one! I like to fry them, like I said, I use less than a 1/4 tsp of oil for BOTH burritos and it makes the tortilla nice and crispy. Mmmmmmm.

Rural Vegan - It was both! I'm glad I'm not the only one who shares a passion for guac.

Happy Herbivore - I bet they WOULD love it. With the black beans, I'm not sure who would love it more though - Scott or the fur kids! ;-)

Cookiemouse - Aw! You are too kind. It was mighty tasty.

No problem Cookiemouse, thank you for keeping us talking about it, we all need to think more about what is going on in the world an our implications in it.

Pleasantly - You guys are making me blush! Thanks so much!