Meatless Mondays: Vegetable & Cheese Quesadillas

Yes…you caught me again.  We actually ate this on Tuesday!

But I like the title and plan to make “Meatless Mondays” a weekly post.   I pay homage to my former vegetarian ways by not eating meat one or two days a week, so I figured it would be easy to post a vegetarian entree once a week.  I know my vegetarian readers will be happy!

This recipe came courtesy of my mother-in-law Pam.  I just made a couple of modifications.  I used red onion.  And I used a combo of yellow squash and zucchini. I also added some garlic in as I was sauteing the onion.

Feel free to substitute other veggies into the recipe based on what you have on hand or what looks good at the store.  Pam suggested substituting the mozzarella for Manchego which I think could be delicious.

I encountered a little problem as I tried to flip the quesadillas (hence no photos — they were tasty but a bit ugly).  Next time I might use a burrito-sized tortilla and put the filling on half of the tortilla and fold the other half over.  I think it would be a little easier to flip.

Tim and I both enjoyed our meat-free meal.  I’ll definitely be making these again!

Vegetable and Cheese Quesadillas
Pam Ogilvie

  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for brushing the tortillas
  • 1 yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced thin crosswise (about 2 cups)
  • 3 cups firmly packed spinach leaves, chopped coarse
  • 1 tomato, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon oregano
  • 6 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
  • 4   6-inch tortillas
  • ¼ lb mozzarella, grated coarse, about 1 cup

In a large skillet cook the onion in 1 T oil over moderately low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes.

Add the squash and spinach and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until the spinach is wilted.  Add the tomato, vinegar, the oregano, salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, until the squash is tender and the liquid is almost evaporated.  Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the olives.

In a jelly roll pan divide the vegetable mixture between two of the tortillas, sprinkle it with the mozzarella and cover the fillings with the remaining two tortillas, pressing gently.  Brush the tops lightly with some of the additional oil and broil the quesadillas under a preheated broiler about 6 inches from the heat for about 2 minutes, or until the tops are golden.  Turn the quesadillas with a large metal spatula, brush the tops with the remaining oil and broil the quesadillas for 2 minutes, until the tops are golden.  Serves two.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *