Mexican Salad and Quesadillas

This is another one of my recipes that I go to frequently when it's hot outside and we don't feel like eating anything hot.  It is not a taco salad, because there is no meat in this salad, but it's extremely tasty.  Because it contains Nacho Cheese Doritos, which kids love, serving this is how I got my boys to start eating salad!

I first tasted this salad at a potluck meal at the church I was raised at over 30 years ago and liked it so much I asked for a copy of the recipe.  Currently it is one of the meals my youngest son requests often.    I always serve this salad with cheese quesadillas, for which I will also share the method below.  This meal gets 8x and 9s on the Melnarik rating scale.

I begin by putting the romaine lettuce in a large bowl, tearing the pieces to make them bite size.  Then, I add the green onions and minced garlic.  I toss these ingredients to combine them, making sure the garlic is evenly distributed. 

In the meantime, I begin making the quesadillas.  On a griddle over medium-low heat, I place a flour tortilla.  To that, I add some shredded medium cheddar cheese and put several dollops of medium salsa for extra flavor.

I place another tortilla on top and cover the whole thing with a pan lid.  This helps the cheese melt by steam as well as the heat below.  I let it go for a minute or so, then gently lift the side of the top tortilla to see if the cheese is melted.  Once it is, I flip the whole thing so the cheese melts to the other tortilla.  

When the quesadilla gets flipped, the first side should be a bit toasty like in the picture above.  It doesn't take long on the second side, maybe about 30 seconds.  Then I remove it to a plate where I use a pizza cutter to cut it into wedges.  Depending on the size of the tortillas I use, I usually make 2 - 3 quesadillas to serve our family of four.

While the quesadillas cook, I continue with the salad by adding the shredded mozzarella cheese and diced tomatoes, tossing again to combine.

The next ingredient is the Nacho Cheese Doritos, which I've crushed slightly.  These are added just before serving, so they don't become soft from the moist ingredients in this salad.

The last ingredient is the Russian salad dressing.  I've made this salad so many times, I can add the right amount just by how it looks.  I would suggest the first time that you add a little salad dressing, toss it in, taste it and keep doing that until you get the desired amount according to your family's taste.  

I serve this salad immediately after tossing in the salad dressing.  It has great texture and crunch and is a wonderfully cool thing to eat on an extremely hot day.  Enjoy!

Mexican Salad

1 large stock romaine lettuce, torn  (or 1-16 oz. bag torn romaine)

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 green onions, chopped

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

10 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated

1/2 of a 11 1/2 oz. bag Nacho Cheese Doritos, coarsely crushed

8 oz. (1 cup) Russian salad dressing

Place lettuce in a large bowl, tearing into bite size pieces.  Add garlic and green onions; toss to combine.  Add tomatoes and cheese; toss to combine.  Add Doritos; toss to combine.  Add dressing; toss to combine.  Serve immediately.

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.