Chicken Quesadillas with Fresh Jalapeños

This is another relatively easy dish that we make often at our house.  I was a picky eater as a child, but I could always go for a cheese quesadilla.  As my tastes have evolved, so have the ingredients I put into this versatile dish.  This is the third meal we have made from the chicken breasts that were on sale this week.  (I feel a bit like Rachel Ray.)

I chunked the chicken breast and sliced up some fresh jalapeño peppers from “Farmer Eric’s” garden.  Heat a pan to just below medium.  You can use a quesadilla maker, which my mom bought me in spite of my insistence that I don’t need another kitchen appliance (thanks Mom, by the way).  Either will work fine.  But a word of advice, much like the in the pizza blog before, don’t overload your quesadillas.  And even more important:  keep the wet ingredients out of it.  If you like sour cream, salsa, or guacamole, wait to add them until after you have cooked it.  Your quesadilla will get soggy and it will likely seep out all of the edges – especially in a quesadilla maker that presses from both the top and bottom.

Lightly coat your first tortilla with butter or margarine and place it on the pan.  Then add your toppings.  Lately I have preferred to shred my own cheese in lieu of buying the shredded type.  It’s a little cheaper that way.  But the pre-shredded type works fine and I still use it often when I don’t feel like shredding my own.  This week I added chicken breast, sharp cheddar cheese, green onions, jalapeño sliced (de-seeded, sorry Eric), and some cumin.  Then butter your top tortilla and place on top.  Flipping can be a bit of an art form.  Wait until the cheese has melted so it will hold together better.  I have a wide spatula that I get underneath the quesadilla, then hold the pan over the top of it and quickly flip.

Once you’re done lightly browning both sides and melting all the ingredients together, slice and serve with your wet ingredients. 

*This is another time we substitute whole wheat tortillas.  With the butter and all the yummy additions, you can’t notice.   Now if you’re just having soft shell tacos, you will notice the difference.  Sadly, wheat tortillas just aren’t the same as a good old fashioned white flour tortilla.