An Appetizer made Dinner Worthy

A quesadilla made MILE HIGH!

When I saw this recipe and thought about all the fresh seasonal veggies out there I had to take advantage. Especially when many of those fresh veggies are from my own garden!

First think of all the things you like/want in your quesadilla.
Chop them up and pile them up:

From the left: green onions, garden tomatoes, cubanelle peppers (raw), sauteed and chopped mushrooms....and
canned and drained black beans, leftover cooked chicken, sauteed/chopped green pepper and red onion.

And MOST importantly...

CHEESE aka your GLUE!



Mile High Quesadilla Pie
adapted from Simply Recipes.com

4 large flour tortillas (9-10 inches diameter- the low carb ones work GREAT!)
Butter
1/2 pound grated cheese, either mild or sharp cheddar, or Monterey Jack

Possible fillings:

Beans, cooked (black beans, pinto beans)
Tomatoes, chopped
Summer squash, chopped
Onions (green onions, red onions, onion greens)
cooked/frozen corn (I roasted mine)
handful of of crushed tortilla chips
Mushrooms (sauté first, to remove moisture)
Cooked shredded chicken, pork, or beef
Chiles, either from cooked green chiles, chopped pickled jalapenos, or salsa
Cumin and/or chili powder for extra heat

Garnishes:

Chopped avocado
Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Salsa


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a springform pan, approximately the same size as your tortillas (you can use a pyrex pie dish) to keep the tortillas from sticking. Hint: do not skip the butter. You need it for crisping and browning.

2. FIRST- Plot and plan how you want your layers based on your foods chosen. I did Chicken, peppers and onions, black beans, mushrooms, crushed tortilla chips (ESSENTIAL flavoring element!)and roasted corn, last layer was cubanelle pepper, green onions and tomatoes.
3. NEXT -decide where you want your essential seasonings. I choose Chipotle Chile Powder on my chicken. Crushed corn tortilla chips on the mushrooms (you gotta have some great CORN flavor since you are using flour tortillas) and cumin for the last layer.

4. Place one tortilla on the bottom of the springform pan. Sprinkle some shredded cheese over the tortilla. Make sure you do this first right after you lay each tortilla. Put your first plotted layer (preferably something that will be a good solid base like the meat) end with seasoning. Place your next tortilla, put the cheese second layer food, end with flavor element. Next tortilla, cheese, last food layer plan and seasoning element. Top off your layers with one last flour tortilla. Spread a little butter over the surface of this tortilla.

5. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Put in oven for 30 minutes on 350°F. Then remove the foil and increase the heat to 400°F. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with more cheese on top and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into six pieces.

Serve with chopped avocados, shredded lettuce, cilantro, salsa, and/or sour cream.


Serves 6.




This was mucho delicioso! K-man loved it. He ate two of these slices for dinner! The side of avocado, tomato and sour cream (not shown) really added to it. Thanks Elise of Simply Recipes, this was awesome!


Enjoy!