Bean Quesadillas.

This quesadilla recipe is one I’ve been using since at least 2001, and it’s my favorite by far.  I first made these bean quesadillas in my first solo apartment – no roommates, no hassle! – and though I haven’t made them quite as much over the last few years, they have a very soft place in my heart.  There’s just no better quesadilla recipe in my arsenal – period!

Tonight, I put some rice and seasoning in the rice cooker and then got to work on the quesadillas.  First, I chopped an onion and a jalapeno pepper and added them to a pan (coated with cooking spray) and let them cook until they were crisp-tender.  Then I added a can of pinto beans and a can of black beans, some garlic powder and cumin, and let the mixture cook for five minutes more.  Then I added some halved grape tomatoes and let them cook down a little bit – just until their skins were slightly wilted.

Then, I added several spoonfuls of the bean mixture to a flour tortilla, topped the mixture with Daiya pepperjack vegan cheese, and folded the tortilla over on top of itself.  I repeated this three more times – because my baking sheet can handle only four of these at a time! – and cooked the quesadillas at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.  By the time they were done, so was the rice, and we sat down to eat!

The final result was fantastic, as ever.  Just tasting the bean mixture reminds me of times past – a comforting feeling indeed.  And I look forward to being comforted again tomorrow – because we’ve got plenty of quesadillas left over!

:)