Oy That's Good!

This is my kind of dish!

First off, it's easy and fast. Second, it's healthy and third, perhaps most importantly, it has Mexican food written all over it.

If I may vent and lament for one small sec...

The only thing Philly lacks besides the mountains + skiing is good Mexican food. We have a Chipolte's, we have Quadoba (i know i just slaughtered that spelling), but in my snobbiness, we lack a mocosalsa, barbocoa, rio, the iguana restaurants, red butte's tacos, etc.. you know. that stuff.. and Chipolte's definitely does the trick in a pinch, but you can only hit it up so many times... Sigh sigh. Thus I was very thrilled to add this one to my anthology of Mexican food stuff. Naturally.

Okay, now to redeem myself from my pity party, I do really love the late summer harvest of zucchini (not I've ever yet personally owned a zucchini bed in my garden.. someday someday).. but I always seem to weasel a few stalks of zucchini from generous givers. Of course, when it's only .99 cents/lb at the market, I load up there too.

The drawers in my fridge become storing units for zucchini.

Hence, with all the zucchini coming out of my ears, I've been looking for new ways of utilizing it, aside from the somewhat overdone (but still wonderful!!!!) zucchini bread variations. We've done zucchini pancakes, zucchini cornmeal cookies, zucchini side dishes, etc, and my aunt Holly was kind enough to pass along this Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe to me that she had received from her daughter Annie. I added in the jalapeno for heat as well as the cumin-- you may leave them out if you wish.

See? So many great ways to use up this green squash.

And these are delicious. Easiest thing to throw together as well.
Double bonus.


Zucchini Quesadillas

4 T olive oil
1 onion coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 med zucchini (about 1 lb)- cut into small dices
1 cup frozen corn kernels (white corn is delicious)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Pinch of cumin
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 flour tortillas
2 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (any cheese will work)

Preheat oven to 400. In large skillet, heat 3 T olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and 1 tsp salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Add zucchini and frozen corn; cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cumin, cilantro and jalapeno, if using.

Brush one side of all tortillas with remaining olive oil. Lay 2 tortillas, oiled side down, on a baking sheet. Place half of the filling on each, and sprinkle with half the cheese. Place remaining 2
tortillas on top, oiled side up; press down gently with a spatula to seal.

Bake until cheese has melted and tortillas are golden brown, turning once; about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, slice in wedges and serve with with sour cream, shredded lettuce, avocado, salsa, the whole works!