Tonight I’m sharing a spontaneous dinner – one that we make about once every ten days when the cupboards are bare and the fridge is lacking and we have one finger on the call button for takeaway pizza.
There’s always a moment before I let Adarsh make the call when I say “STOP” and bang through the kitchen one more time to see if there isn’t something I can whip up that will leave me feeling better than heavy pizza.
I can almost always make some incarnation of a loaded cheese quesadilla, chicken quesadilla (or air fryer quesadilla) with what I have.
- For protein, I happily use leftovers of any kind (chicken, fish, beef, pork, tofu) and if nothing is actually left over, I’ll open a can of black beans or refried beans from the pantry.
- Next is the veg. I’ll sauté that nub of zucchini knocking around the crisper drawer. Add some frozen corn. Greens. Literally whatever is available. If nothing suited to a filling is present, I will just make a cheesy base then pile raw, crunchy veggies on top after it’s cooked (as I did here with radish, and after the picture, lots of lettuce).
- I treat my fridge as a MasterChef mystery box and try to use up every scrap.
The final touch is whatever we can dip – usually store-bought salsa is within arm’s reach, and some thick greek yogurt (which I use as sour cream – it’s 11%, and has a texture/ingredients list I prefer). If I’m lucky, there’s an avocado rolling around somewhere for avocado crema.
It’s so satisfying to shop from the pantry and come up with something from nothing. This is probably the most non-recipe recipe I’ve ever shared, but it’s something we eat all the time, and might be useful to your takeout-avoidance repertoire, too.
I always keep a stash of fresh flour tortillas and/or homemade corn tortillas in the freezer (either works), beans in the pantry, and cheese in the fridge, so there’s rarely a night I can’t make these.
If you don’t have tortillas, make a pot of Instant Pot Mexican rice (or another grain) and just pile the toppings on top for a quesadilla bowl.
Don’t-Order-Takeout Weeknight Quesadillas
Ingredients
- large flour tortillas
- shredded cheddar cheese
- chicken fish, beef, pork, tofu or beans
- finely chopped red onion green onion, and/or jalapeno
- a handful of finely chopped cooked veggies zucchini, bell peppers, corn, eggplant, greens, cabbage, sweet potato, squash
- a handful of chopped raw vegetables tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, cilantro
- dips as desired (avocado, salsa, sour cream/greek yogurt)
Instructions
- Heat a large griddle or pan over medium heat. Add as many tortillas as there are mouths to feed and divide the toppings among them, only covering one half. Fold each tortilla over on itself to close, and cook until bottom is browned and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes (reducing heat if they are getting dark too quickly). Serve with desired raw toppings and dips.
