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William-Sonoma's Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

 

Friday was quesadilla and mojito night. Nothing better than a minty refreshing drink with some great finger food. Jeff found this recipe in a cookbook I purchased a while back called William-Sonoma Weekend - Food Made Fast. The recipe was called Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas. Hands down, the easiest meal to make and HEALTHY! I know many of my recipes don't give nutritional value, but look at the ingredients...fresh and basic.

Our household loves any type of Mexican food and as much as they love our chicken enchiladas, we have a new recipe to add to our list of "regulars." We made it with our Killer Guacamole and added some warmed black beans. With all the other compliments, salsa, sour cream and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, everyone continued to build their quesadillas to their liking.

The flavor was great with the moist roasted chicken, wilted fresh spinach and mushrooms. The Monterey Jack cheese was a perfect blend to these fresh ingredients. Crunchy tortillas, fresh veggies...they were delicious.

If you have had a long week (or a short one because it is only Monday!) and are looking for a quick and easy meal for dinner, pick up these ingredients and presto! Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons corn oil

6 ounces fresh button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

2 cups packed baby spinach

2 cups shredded roast chicken, homemade or purchased

8 flour tortillas, each 10 inches in diameter

2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup salsa, homemade or purchased

PREPARE THE FILLING: In a large, heave fry pan over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and chicken and saute just until the spinach is wilted, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl.

ASSEMBLE THE QUESADILLAS: Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas, spooning it onto half of each tortilla and leaving a 3/4-inch border uncovered. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Fold the tortillas in half over the chicken mixture to enclose loosely.

COOK THE QUESADILLAS: Wipe out the fry pan with a paper towel and return to medium heat. Brush lightly with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Working in batches, add the quesadillas to the pan and cook until golden brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a large spatula, carefully turn the quesadillas and cook until golden on the other side and the cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Divide the quesadillas among 4 plates and serve. Pass the sour cream and salsa at the table.

Danielle's Chicken Salad

 
My daughter, Danielle, has been a fan of chicken salad for years. She would come home and talk about the great ingredients from each one she tried. I never liked chicken salad, probably because I'm not a big mayonnaise fan. The more the mayonnaise, the less I am willing to try the dish. One day I decided I would try a few variations of chicken salad and see what happened. I made some with chicken chunks, red onion and celery, others I would grind with nuts and Craisins. In the end, we had a favorite. I named it Danielle's since she is the reason I now enjoy chicken salad.

Ingredients:

1 (2-3 pound) oven-roasted chicken, cooked

1/3 cup of celery, finely chopped

1/3 cup of walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup of orange-flavored Craisins, chopped

2/3 cup of mayonnaise (more or less, your choice)

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Remove chicken from the bone. Chop into chunks (about 1 inch by 1 inch). I pull it with my hands and shred it in my fingertips. It makes small soft chunks. Add celery, walnuts and Craisins. Mix together. Add mayonnaise. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or chill.

I love serving chicken salad on fresh Italian bread. Mix up a batch..or two, it's delicious and disappears quickly.

A Grilled Cheese Sandwich versus A Grilled Peanut Butter Sandwich

 

 
After de-Christmasing and digging out from our latest snowstorm, soup and a sandwich for lunch sounded good. Grilled cheese was on the menu until I remembered my childhood favorite, grilled peanut butter. Made in the same fashion as a grilled cheese sandwich, this warmed sandwich, in my opinion, is just as good as a grilled cheese. When you mention grilled peanut butter, people makes faces or say, "That's gross!", but until you have tasted one, you can't be judgmental.

I think they taste best with Italian bread and we still had some left from our New Year's Eve dinner. My sandwich was made with smooth peanut butter and Jeff chose to make his grilled cheese with prosciutto and provolone. I will say, don't go by the pictures because Jeff's sandwich looks really good (and it tasted good) but mine was EXCELLENT, warm, crunchy and melted in my mouth. So, I ask all of you, given the choice...grilled cheese? or grilled peanut butter?

Ingredients:

Grilled Cheese (and Prosciutto)

2 slices of white bread, preferably Italian sliced

2 slices of cheese (we used Provolone cheese)

4 thin slices of Prosciutto 

1 tablespoon of butter

Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Place buttered side of slice of bread face down into a frying pan heated on medium heat. Place prosciutto and cheese on top and place the second slice on the cheese and prosciutto, buttered side up. Grill both sides until cheese is melted and bread is golden.

Grilled Peanut Butter

2 slices of white bread, preferably Italian sliced

2-3 tablespoons of Peanut Butter (chunky or smooth)

(Optionals- bananas or bacon, not my choice, but my mother's family always ate theirs that way!)

Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread, place second slice of bread on top. Butter front and back of sandwich and cook as above until golden brown and the peanut butter is melted.

Once you taste this, you'll crave it every time someone mentions grilled cheese!

When was the last time you ate Sloppy Joes?

When you hear Sloppy Joes, what is the first thing you think of...yup, Manwich Sloppy Joes. The only thing I remember was that I didn't like them . When my son asked he to make them one evening I thought, the only way I could eat a Sloppy Joe was if I made it from scratch. As I searched the internet, I found a recipe from Rachael Ray called Super Sloppy Joe's. It looked pretty good with a combination of vegetables and spices. One year later it has become a family favorite. I love the sweet and sour taste from the red peppers and red wine vinegar. This is a great (and messy) meal that makes up quickly (Rachael Ray says 30 minutes) and serves well with seasoned french fries.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 
• 2 teaspoons of steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick Brand Montreal Seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops.