Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Portobello and Cranberry Bean Quesadillas with Pico de Gallo

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Portobello and Cranberry Bean Quesadillas with Pico de Gallo

This meal made my mouth very happy. I really love trying out new beans and salsas. Today we used cranberry beans. These beans are typically used in Italian or Spanish food, but I like to do things my way, call it rebellion if you will - they worked wonderfully. :-)















These beans may look like pinto beans, but they are not. They get freakishly large once cooked, like a really fat lima bean. If you cannot find cranberry beans, pinto or kidney beans would be a fine substitute.

The Pico de Gallo is a fresh condiment made of chilies, onions, tomatoes and some spices, and can be as hot or mild as you want it - you can vary your peppers accordingly. I like quite a bit of spice, but can't get away with too much, especially when they are fresh peppers, as not everyone (Brett) is a spice freak like me. But I can still get away with making it far spicier than some people might like it.





























This was Brett's quesadilla, topped with guacamole and cilantro.















This was my quesadilla topped with guacamole and more Pico de Gallo.


Pico de Gallo
6 roma tomatoes, chopped (or 2-3 large regular tomatoes)
1/4 red onion, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (or 2 tbsp dried)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
1-2 tsp white vinegar
cumin
salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Refrigerate for a half hour or so to allow flavors to blend.

Portobello and Cranberry Bean Quesadilla
Makes enough filling for two large quesadillas (may have some beans left over).

2 cups cooked cranberry beans
1-2 large portobello mushrooms, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 a red bell pepper, roasted and sliced
1 zucchini, roasted and sliced
chipotle chili powder
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
cumin
salt
vegan jack (optional)

2 burrito sized tortillas
Pico de Gallo

Heat a couple tablespoons of water in a medium sized skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and season with a few pinches of chipotle chili powder, cumin and salt. Cook until mushrooms are soft, about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, season warmed beans with chili powder, coriander, Mexican oregano, cumin and salt.

Layer beans, mushrooms, roasted veggies, vegan jack and a bit of Pico de Gallo in a warmed tortilla. Fold tortilla over and fry if desired.

Top with guacamole and more Pico de Gallo.

'Til next time!

13 comments:

Alicia said...

The quesadillas look amazing! Oh, I wish I could eat that for dinner... I need to find tortillas though! Not sure if that'll be easy.
Whenever I read your blog, I crave spicy food!

Ruby Red said...

I've never heard of cranberry beans, but they sound awesome. I've always wanted to try one of those varieties of beans that just gets really humungous when you cook them!

VeganCowGirl said...

Hey Jennifer,
Your writing is great! (just thought I would mention that). I love the cranberry beans - they look like little pockets of bean goodness. I will take a peek around brussels to see if I can find them here.

I found this really interesting species of avocado at the bio stand the other day - I am going to whir it up for my lunch tomorrow...maybe I can do something beanish with it. You got me thinking!! Thanks!!

Kumquat Peekapoo said...

I think you should re-title your blog, "101 vegan ways to use a tortilla"! I love it; your food always looks so tasty. I think you need to write a quesadilla and burrito cookbook.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I want your quesadillas now! I may live in Texas, which is right near Mexico, but YOUR Mexican foods always look even better than that authentic stuff we can get here!

Bianca said...

I've never heard of cranberry beans. But looks yummy. I love how you spread guac on everything. My mom made guac last night and I put it on rice cakes (because I'd already had a million chips). It was good.

Anke said...

I, too, love trying new beans and sice they seem to be European beans I should be able to find them. Your quesadillas look wonderful :-)

Anonymous said...

this meal looks amazingly good. I wouldn't mind having a bite of each of your quesadillas. On average how long would you say that it took you to make this whole meal, not counting the soaking of the beans.

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

oh.my.bean.

ugh. YES PLEASE~!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

i love cranberry beans. yr pico de gallo sounds great!

Anonymous said...

I loooove cranberry beans!! Great choice!

J said...

Alice - Thanks! I always crave spicy food.....

Ruby Red - I found them online at the website of this small local farm called Purcell Mountain Farms. They get huge!

Vegan Cow Girl - Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I always hope my writing is, at the very least, coherent.

A different species of avocado? I can't wait to see what you whip up with it!

Kumquat - Hahaha! Thanks. I may have to do that...

Chocolate Covered - Maybe I get some of my inspiration from Texas, a lot of my family lives there.

You are so sweet! :-)

Bianca - I have a serious addiction to guac and avocados. I should really move somewhere that they can be grown.

Anke - I bet you'd have an easier time finding these beans that we do in the States. Thanks!

Leng - Aw, if you were here, I'd happily give you a bite! Well, the beans were already cooked. I'll have Brett soak and cook beans while I'm at work to save time. If that's not an option, you can soak beans overnight and put them in a crockpot all day. It took about an hour to make this meal.

Happy Herbivore: :-)

Pleasantly - They are really good. Thanks!

Romina - I like these plump beans a lot, they are so tasty!

Calimaryn said...

Looks very yummy. Oddly enough I have most of these ingredients in my fridge right now! I had been tossing around a burrito idea but this sounds awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.