A few months ago, in a post titled “Fatty,” I made my case for why Mexican food is better than any other kind of food. This is fact. It is not up for discussion.
“First of all, there is fresh salsa; all tomato-y and cilantro-y. Then there is cheese. And guacamole. And grilled onions. End of discussion.
QuesoSourcreamTaquitosQuesadillasEnchiladasPlantainsRefriedbeansSopapillas.
Okay, now end of discussion.” (Read the full post here.)
I LOVE Mexican food – so much that I’m wary of making it at home because I don’t want to insult it.
After years and years of making quesadillas that were hit-or-miss, I’ve finally found a method that I love. No more gambling, just warm, cheesy, Mex-inspired goodness.
There is literally no-prep work at all. Unless preheating your oven is prep-work.
LUNCHTIME QUESADILLAS
Step 1: Turn on your oven to 350.
Step 2: Slice (mostly) frozen chicken breasts into thin slices. Like so:
A chicken breast that is mostly frozen is A KAJILLION times easier to cut through than a thawed one. For once not planning ahead pays off. Enjoy it.
Step 3: Sprinkle a teeny bit of taco seasoning on your chicken in a baking dish.
I use this VERY sparingly.
I can get 5 or 6 batches of chicken out of a single packet. If you’re too heavy handed with the seasoning it makes your meat taste salty or processed or something. Much less fresh/real.
Step 4: Stir up your chickies and stick them in the oven until they’re cooked through! Since they’re so thin, they only take 20-25 minutes – even if they’re frozen going in.
Step 5: Spray a big pan and flop a tortilla in there. Cover one side with cheese. THE MORE THE BETTER. When you think you have enough, add some more; it changes the flavor in a huge and awesome way. Add some of your chicken and then just a touch more cheese on top, to make the tortilla stick.
Step 6: Fold the tortilla in half and cook on medium-ish heat until the cheese is all melty and the tortilla gets crispy on the outside. My first side always cooks much longer than my second. Today my first side took about 7 minutes on medium heat (while the pan heated up) and 1-2 minutes on the second side after I flipped it. Same principle as pancakes. 🙂
Step 7: Slice it up with a pizza cutter and serve with sour cream and guac!
Way better than another mid-afternoon turkey sandwich.
You can obviously add all kinds of stuff to your pan. In the past I’ve done onions and peppers, but didn’t have any on hand today.
It is SO MUCH EASIER and CLEANER than sauteeing everything on the stove top. You just flop them in and leave them, no stirring required!
Bonus: It takes no more time to cook 4 chicken breasts than it does to cook one, so I always make extra and have seasoned chicken laying around for the week. Perfect for salads, wraps, and lots of quesadillas! (I’ll be making/freezing a big pan of seasoned chicken next week in preparation for baby. It’s such a breeze and much less expensive than the pre-packaged stuff!)
DISH COUNT:
-1 knife
-1 cutting board
-1 baking dish
-1 pan
-1 wooden spoon
Not even enough to fill up a single dishwasher rack. WIN!
Enjoy a fresh, warm lunch this week!
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