Quesadillas! Kid friendly...or not

Yum...have I mentioned how much I love Mexican-style food (I call it Mexican style because the kind that I make isn't super authentic...but it's still delicious!)? Last week, while I was still on my I-don't-have-to-cook-for-Steve's-kids-so-I-am-going-to-cook-things-that-contain-alcohol-or-burn-my-tastebuds-off phase, I decided to make some super spicy quesadillas. Check out these jalapenos:

 Oh yeah, baby! And again:

 See all that cayenne pepper, chili powder, and cumin? Yum.

The good news is that you can easily make these child or delicate-taste-bud friendly. You can pretty much make a quesadilla that anyone, even super picky people will eat (Joey - this may or may not pertain to you). You can use leftovers, you can make them vegetarian, you can use corn tortillas, flour tortillas, flavored tortillas (like sun dried tomato or garden herb)...whatever you have on hand! For these I used leftover chicken, shredded cheese and jalapenos. You could use steak, black beans, peppers, corn, shrimp, onions, re-fried beans, leftover taco meat, or nothing except cheese! That's the only rule though...you have to have cheese.

Look at all that melty goodness (I know it's a terrible picture, but I am trying!)! I topped mine with taco sauce and sour cream, but you could use salsa, guacamole (or just sliced avocado), shredded lettuce, or chopped tomatoes (or all of the above!).

Because you can adapt this to whatever you would like for fixings, I gave just the technique below. Make sure that if you make these carnivorous, use meat that is already cooked, as you don't cook these hot enough or long enough to cook raw meat. I also saute peppers and onions (when I use them) for a few minutes to make them crisp-tender.

Quesadillas

• 2 tortillas (I prefer flour)
• 3/4 cup of shredded cheese (I used a mexican blend; cheddar, jack, or mozzarella would also work)
• Any additional fixin's, chopped up (and cooked, if necessary)
• Toppings (optional)

Lay one tortilla in the bottom of a frying pan. Add cheese and any fixings, top with remaining tortilla. Place pan over medium low heat and cover loosely with a lid or with a piece of aluminum foil. Check frequently, making sure that cheese melts, but that the bottom tortilla doesn't burn (you may have to turn the heat down to low). I like to take a spatula and push down on the top to get the cheese to stick to both tortillas (you could also use a sandwich press for this). When the cheese is melted, carefully flip the whole thing over to crisp up the other tortilla. Cut with a pizza cutter and serve with toppings. Enjoy!!!

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