Liza's Stuffed Quesadillas

For several years now, my oldest son's schedule (school and church) has caused me to have to come up with several dinner options that can be eaten by him at least an hour before the rest of the family.  My repertoire includes meal-type salads, sandwiches, soups, and things like this recipe I call Stuffed Quesadillas (because they are so thick).  Once I've combined the "stuffing" mixture, it can be kept in Tupperware in the refrigerator for several days (if it lasts that long) for a quick snack.  I try to always have the ingredients available in case I'm feeding extra teenagers without much notice.  I always have boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer, which can be boiled (keeps the meat moist) and chopped in no time, or I use already-cooked chicken breast strips, which are available in most stores now.  You're not going to believe how simple this is to put together.

I begin by chopping my cooked chicken breast into small pieces and put them in a medium-size bowl.

Then, I toss in some rinsed and drained black beans.

Next, I add the salsa.  This can be any salsa or picante sauce of your choice.  The heat level is up to you, too.  Cha Chi's Pico de Gallo salsa (medium heat) is the favorite of my family.

Last in is the corn.  I've used both frozen and canned corn in this recipe.  When using frozen corn, it's best to defrost it in the microwave, otherwise it may add a cold element to an otherwise hot quesadilla.  You may have noticed the tool that I used to toss the ingredients; I call it a spoontula because it acts like a spoon for stirring, but it's also a spatula which scrapes the sides of the bowl well when combining ingredients.  This type of product can be found most places that sell kitchen tools, but mine is from Pampered Chef.  I'm putting in a plug for theirs because I feel it's the best one available. They call a Mix 'N Scraper and it now comes in three sizes.  What I like most about it is that it never stains and it's heat resistant to over 500 degrees, so I can use it in a saucepan when melting chocolate, etc.  This tool is a necessity in my kitchen, next to a good set of knives.

On a medium-low heated griddle or frying pan, I place a fajita-size tortilla.  Most of the time I use flour tortillas, but just found these whole wheat tortillas recently, so I decided to use them for the first time.  I then add the grated cheese.  Most of my family members prefer medium cheddar in this one, but I treat myself to sharp cheddar as it is my preference.

Then I spoon the chicken mixture onto one-half of the tortilla.  When I first started making these, I would put the "stuffing" over the entire tortilla, add more cheese and another tortilla.  However, because there was so much stuffing, it was so hard to flip to get the cheese melted on the top tortilla without a lot of the chicken mixture falling out.  It didn't take me too long to figure out how to solve that problem by making a half quesadilla each time!

I usually cover it with a saucepan lid so that it steams as well as getting heated from below.  I think it makes the cheese melt faster, which is what you need to wait for.  While waiting, I usually start building the next quesadillas on a cutting board so they're ready to put on the griddle when there is available space.

 Once the cheese is completely melted, using a large spatula, I flip the cheese side over the stuffing side.

Then I flip the whole thing over to the other side for about 10 seconds, just to make sure the stuffing is imbedded in the melted cheese on that side also.  This helps prevent everything from falling out while eating it.

I put it on a plate and it's ready to eat.  Yes, it looks like a large soft taco, and that's the easiest way to eat it.  My husband and I find one of these quesadillas quite filling, but if, like me, you have teenage boys in the house, they may require more!  Enjoy!

Liza's Stuffed Quesadillas

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup salsa

1 cup corn

6 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese

6 fajita size tortillas

Place chopped chicken breast pieces in a medium size bowl.  Toss in beans, salsa and corn.  Place tortilla on a griddle or pan over medium-low heat.  Add 1 cup of shredded cheese, covering tortilla almost to the edge.  Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chicken mixture to one-half of the tortilla.  Once the cheese melts, flip the cheese side over the chicken side and flip the whole thing over for about 10 seconds to make sure the chicken mixture adheres to both sides.  Plate and serve hot.