Yesterday, as I wandered round the supermarket wondering what Isabelle and I should have for lunch, I realised it had been ages since I had made us some quesadillas. Quesadillas are something which we both really enjoy, are relatively healthy and which take me around 5 minutes to make (most of which is grating the cheese!)More importantly, to me, they are a perfect toddler meal. They have lots inside them, but the melted cheese sticks them together to mean that it all holds up to little hands, and things don't spill out all over the clothes, chair, floor....
Ingredients:
* soft tortillas
* pre-cooked chicken
* grated cheese
* pepper
* BBQ sauce
Heat a large, non-stick drying pan and place one flour tortilla inside. Cover with a layer of grated cheese, then the cooked chicken, diced pepper and BBQ sauce. Add a second layer of grated cheese on top and finish with a second tortilla.
Heat until the cheese starts to melt, and the bottom tortilla is golden brown before flipping over. (This is tricky! After much trial and error I have found a good method - put a plate into the pan and turn it over, so the quesadilla is now on the plate, cooked side up. Slide it into the pan again uncooked side down.
Continue to cook until the second side is golden brown and all the cheese has melted.
Slice and serve.
Depending on how hungry I am, I will make one like this and share it with Isabelle. If that's the case, I don't put BBQ sauce in her section as I a don't like her having too much salt, and simply cut her section out carefully at the end. If I am too greedy to share, I make her a small quesadilla by folding one tortilla in half and following the method above.
The melted cheese holds everything together, and this quick lunch is a great source of protein with the chicken and cheese inside.
Essentially, it is a glorified toastie...but we love it! This would be so easy to make into a dinner as well, by adding a few more ingredients inside (mushrooms, refried beans, salsa) and a side salad too. You could really throw anything in here, and I have seen lots of recipes using rice and all sorts of leftovers inside quesadillas as well.
A quick, simple, toddler friendly meal.
