CHEF Recipes: Spinach and Black Bean Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a great foundation from which you can build lots of quick healthy meals.  Our colleague Pam McCall sent us a spinach and shrimp quesadilla recipe a few months ago, but when we went to make it, we couldn’t find any cheap shrimp. On the fly, we substituted black beans, another lean source of protein. Shrimp and beans are both great options! The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that we eat more seafood and get more protein from non-meat sources like beans, nuts and seeds. Additionally, this recipe calls for frozen spinach, but with farmers markets re-opening all over central North Carolina, now is a great time to substitute fresh locally-grown spinach.  And, as we progress into the summer, consider stuffing your quesadillas with other delicious locally-grown vegetables like zucchini, tomatoes, fresh corn, and bell peppers.

Here’s the CHEF break-down for this recipe:

Cheap: We made this quesadilla for $9.83. Canned beans are a great cheap source of low-fat protein!

Healthy: You’ve already heard us sing the praises of the main ingredients in this dish: canned beans (lean fiber-rich protein) and frozen vegetables (low in added salt and sugar and rich with vitamins and minerals).  To make this meal even more nutritious, use corn or whole wheat tortillas instead of white flour tortillas. Whole grain foods like these provide fiber and may play a part in reducing a range of chronic diseases.

Easy: Most of the work in this recipe is in the assembly of the quesadillas. The only tip to keep in mind is to limit how much filling you use, so that it doesn’t ooze out once you fold and cook them. If you have children, set out the spinach, cheese, and tortillas and have them help you fill the quesadillas!

Fast: Keep your pantry stocked with canned beans and you freezer stocked with frozen vegetables and you’ll be ready to whip up these quesadillas any time! They take very little preparation and cooking time- we made ours in less than 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 – 10 oz. bag of spinach or one bunch of fresh spinach

1 can of black beans (check the label for the brand with the least sodium)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup/8 oz. shredded reduced fat cheese (try monterey jack, pepper jack or cheddar)

1 cup of salsa

1 package tortillas (look for whole wheat or corn)

Directions:

1. Prepare the beans. Peel and coarsely chop the garlic.  Open the can of beans. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat and, once the oil is warm, add the garlic. After 1-2 minutes, once the garlic is slightly golden, pour in the can of beans. Stir and increase the temperature slightly, bringing the beans up to a gentle boil.  Boil for 5-7 minutes or until the mixture thickens slightly.

2. Prepare the spinach. If using frozen spinach, defrost in the microwave according to package directions. Then place the spinach in a strainer and squeeze out excess water. If using fresh spinach, rinse and dry it thoroughly.  Then, snip off the bottoms of the stems, stack up the leaves and chop them coarsely into approximately 1/2 inch strips.  (Bagged, pre-washed, baby spinach from the grocery needs no preparation.)

3. Grate the cheese.

4. Warm a medium-large frying pan on medium heat. Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees.

5. Once the beans are ready, lay out one tortilla on a plate or cutting board. Add a layer of spinach to one half of the tortilla, leaving at least a ½ inch of space around the round edge. Then, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of cheese and spoon about a ¼ cup of beans over the spinach. Fold the tortilla in half and carefully place it in the warmed frying pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until tortilla is lightly browned and the cheese starts to melt. Press down on the tortilla with a spatula, then carefully turn the quesadilla to cook the other side, another 1-2 minutes.

6. Place finished quesadillas on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil in the oven to keep warm while you complete the rest.

7. Serve with salsa.

Nutrition Information:

Split 4 ways, 1 serving of this dish contains approximately:

500 calories

30 grams of protein

19 grams of fat

55 grams of carbohydrate

1052 mg. of sodium