Photos by Suech and Beck
My family’s fall-back weeknight meal is quesadillas. I keep tortillas in the freezer and there is always cheese in the fridge, so even when we are time-strapped and the pantry is almost bare, we can have a humble but satisfying meal. One day while grating the cheese for a round of quesadillas, I also grated a small zucchini into the mix, and they turned out better than ever. The zucchini offers a hit of nutrients and fiber without any sacrifice to the flavor or appearance. These are great on their own, served with salsa, or alongside a soup like split pea, butternut and bacon soup.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: about 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium zucchini
- ¼ teaspoon salt Canola oil
- 8 small soft tortillas
- ½ small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese for serving
- Fresh tomato and corn salsa or store-bought salsa
- Sour cream
STEPS
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Place in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Give it a little toss to mix in the salt. Let stand 10 minutes, then squeeze as much of the liquid out of the zucchini as possible.
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with a tiny bit of canola oil, then place a tortilla in the pan. Sprinkle with one-quarter of the onion and one-quarter of the squeezed zucchini (fluff up the zucchini a bit to get better coverage). Sprinkle evenly with ¼ cup of each cheese. Top with another tortilla and press down with a spatula. Cook 1 minute or until the bottom is golden, then flip and cook another 1 minute or so. Transfer the completed quesadilla to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven for up to 15 minutes.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with fresh tomato and corn salsa and sour cream.
Switch It Up: Add anything you like. I love adding black beans, shredded cooked chicken or beef, grilled sweet peppers or hot sauce.
Reprinted with permission from Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited
