Black bean and chicken quesadillas

I love quesadillas, but they are usually full of fat and calories, so I wanted to make a lower fat/lower calorie version that still tastes fantastic. These have become a staple in my house. They are easy to cook up, cut up and then store in airtight containers. They reheat quickly in the microwave, and my boys can even take them in their lunches.

Karin's Black Bean and Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients:
8 Life Balance Tortillas (I use the whole wheat ones)
Shredded cheese (about a cup)
Chicken (about 1 1/2 breasts, cooked and cut up)
Cilantro
1 can black beans
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 small onion, diced
Olive oil
Pinch salt
Cumin

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the chicken, black beans and corn. Add cumin and salt. Cook until warmed through. Mash some of the black beans in the pan. Remove from heat.



4. Lay out the 8 tortillas on two sheet pans. Fill each tortilla (only on one half of the tortilla) with the black bean, corn and chicken mixture.
5. Sprinkle cheese over the black bean mixture. Top with cilantro.
6. Fold each tortilla in half so it is a half moon shape. Press down so they remain closed.



7. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and cut each tortilla half moon into two pieces. Top with more cilantro, sour cream and salsa (if desired).



The oven does a nice job of crisping these up without overcrisping them. The black beans add a nice hearty touch and if you aren't feeling like meat that night, skip the chicken - you won't miss it.

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas Revisited

Remember these little guys? I haven't made them in a long time, primarily because most tortillas have some form of hydrogenated oil in them, unless you make your own, or are loaded with soybean oil, which, of course, Andy is allergic to. But I found some great whole wheat ones with flax seed (OMEGA 3s!!!) in them at Trader Joes, with no soy and no hydrogenated oils, so I've been remaking these little beauties over the last week.

They don't last long. My boys are addicted to them, and they are GREAT for school lunches, because they are good cold, or you can warm them up. I make 8 tortillas worth, which is actually 16 quesadillas, as I cut them in half once they are cooked. Each little triangle is around 170 calories a piece, and they are loaded with protein, fiber and very little fat. Good deal!

I highly recommend these! I slice them up with a piece cutter, put them in a container and store them in the fridge.

Click HERE for the recipe.

Refried Black Beans in the Crock Pot

Remember the lunch post where I mentioned the easy refried black beans I'd made in the crock pot? This is the recipe, and man, you won't find an easier recipe out there. Again, this is the brilliant Lisa Leake from 100 Days of Real Food (LOVE her recipes and her general philosophy on food). Just pop all the ingredients into your slow cooker before you go to bed, crank it to high, and when you wake up to the LOVELY smell of slow-cooked beans, you'll be in heaven. I use these beans for tacos, quesadillas, plain with tortillas, with eggs for breakfast (or dinner), or just as a delicious side dish. I use black beans, but you could use pinto as well...that's my next go round. I just happened to have a HUGE bag of dried black beans in my pantry, and Andy prefers black beans to pinto (I know, what???). If you're concerned about heat, I would encourage you NOT to leave out the jalapeno. It doesn't add heat here...it just adds flavor, and without it, these beans can be a little bland. In fact, I use a whole jalapeno in my batch. Without further ado, refried black beans.

Refried Black Beans in the Crock Pot
Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 cups dry black beans, rinsed
1 fresh jalapeno or other hot pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
One big pinch of cumin
6 cups water

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for 8 hours or overnight while you are sleeping.

3. Remove the bigger onion chunks and drain the excess liquid. If desired, save excess liquid until the final product is desired consistency.

4. Mash remaining beans with a potato masher. Serve.

Taco Rice Salad

We love taco salad in this house...if it were up to Andy, we'd eat it at least once a week. Alas, by the time we add the chips, sour cream and cheese, it's outrageously calorific, so I was excited when my Cooking Light cookbook had a great recipe for Taco Rice Salad. I tried it tonight and man, oh man...was it delicious!!!! The recipe calls for ground beef, but I used chicken instead. I put 2 boneless breasts and a boneless thigh in the crockpot with 1/2 packet of taco seasoning and 1/4 cup chicken stock. I set it on low and left for the day. When I came home, I shredded it up and voila...beautiful chicken taco meat. So, here's how this salad works.

Taco Rice Salad
Ingredients:
SALAD:
Cooking spray
1 lb ground round or 1 lb shredded chicken
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups cooked yellow rice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper (I didn't need either in this dish due to the taco seasoning I used)
6 cups torn lettuce
3 cups chopped tomato
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup chopped red onion (I used a shallot)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

DRESSING:
2/3 cup light sour cream
2/3 cup salsa
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

REMAINING INGREDIENT:
1/2 cup shredded Jack cheese

**The rice is pre-cooked here, so make your rice (I just used Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix) before you start the rest of the process.

1. To prepare salad, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high hear. Coat pan with cooking pray. Add beef and garlic and cook until browned. (With my chicken, since it was already cooked, I just warmed it back up and added the garlic.) Stir in the rice (it is already cooked) and cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cool slightly.

2. Combine lettuce and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss to combine.

3. To prepare dressing, combine sour cream, salsa, 1 tsp chili powder and 1/2 tsp cumin, stirring with a whisk. Rather than dress the entire salad at once (I knew we'd have leftovers), I just kept the dressing separate and dressed each plate individually. That way I could wrap up any leftovers.

4. Put it all together: Put 1 1/3 cups salad mixture on a plate or bowl. Spoon dressing over the top; toss to coat. Top with 3/4 cup of the rice and meat mixture and 1.5 tbs of cheese. Mix altogether. The best part about this is that one serving is just under 400 calories! Wahoo!

I wrapped up the leftover meat and rice mixture. This can be used for more salad tomorrow, or can be made into quesadillas, burritos or tacos. The leftover salad, cheese and dressing were wrapped up separately and will be ready for a good lunch tomorrow.