Quick (No-Queso) Quesadillas
Overview
Published: 07/01/2011
Photos
Reprinted with permission from The Vegan Table cookbook by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
If the combination of Middle Eastern hummus and Mexican tortillas seems strange, just trust me. The result is absolutely delightful and serves as an incredibly fast meal, snack, or appetizer. Kids of all ages love it!
Ingredients
Hummus (store-bought or homemade)
8 10-inch flour tortillas (corn is fine, too, but they’re usually smaller)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2-1 cup salsa
Spread a tortilla with 3 heaping tablespoons of hummus and place (hummus-side up!) in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
Sprinkle with chopped green onions and spread on a thin layer of salsa.
Top with a second tortilla, and cook until the bottom tortilla is warm and turning golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how high you have your flame. Turn and cook the second side for another few minutes, until it, too, is golden brown. This process becomes a lot quicker once the pan is hot, so stay close to the flame! (The first one always takes the longest since the pan isn’t totally hot yet.)
Alternatively, you can spread your hummus on just one half of the tortilla, place the tortilla in the pan, add the other toppings in a thin layer over the hummus, and fold the empty half of the tortilla on top of the filled side. (Just be careful not to overload it so as to make it too difficult to flip it over.) Let it get golden brown on the bottom side, then carefully turn the folded quesadilla over to get golden brown on the other side.
Remove from pan, and serve hot. If using the two tortillas, either cut it in half or into pizza-shape triangles to serve as finger food. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Yield: 4 to 8 servings
Hearty Mexican-style
Add some pinto or black beans when you add the salsa.
Greek-style:
Instead of salsa and green onions, add spinach, thinly sliced red onions, Kalamata olives, and nondairy yogurt.
Italian-style:
Instead of salsa and green onions, add roasted red peppers, parsley, and oregano.
Soy-free, wheat-free if using corn tortillas
About Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
For over 11 years, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has guided people to becoming and staying vegan through sold-out cooking classes, bestselling books, inspiring lectures, engaging videos, and her immensely popular audio podcast, “Vegetarian Food for Thought.” Using her unique blend of passion, humor, and common sense, she empowers and inspires people to live according to their own values of compassion and wellness.
With a master’s degree in English literature and a command of traditional and new media, Colleen is an exhilarating speaker, a powerful writer, a talented chef, and a persuasive advocate, whose success can be measured by the thousands of people whose lives have been changed by her compassionate message.
The award-winning author of five books, including the bestselling The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, and Vegan’s Daily Companion, Colleen also writes the “VegGuru” column for VegNews Magazine, contributes to National Public Radio and The Christian Science Monitor, and has appeared on The Food Network and PBS. Her fifth book, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, published by Random House, is due out in August 2011.