Black Bean Quesadillas

We've officially made it to day 5 of our plant based meal challenge!  🙌🏻 For the most part - our meatless dinners have been delicious - according to me.  😉 (There was really only one that kind of missed the mark.)  I've gone out of my comfort zone and made some new recipes that I wouldn't normally have tried if I hadn't been specifically looking for plant based recipes.  

​What I have come to realize though is that there is one unfortunate consequence to eating plant based meals every single day - eating a lot of beans tends to backfire. (literally)  😂😯🤣  (I can't believe that I'm talking about flatulence on my food blog - just trying to keep it real, folks.)  My go-to move when I prepare meatless meals is to just replace meat with beans in my favorite recipes like lasagna, tacos and salads.  My new goal is going to be to find meat alternatives that won't have the adverse effects of beans.😅 

Although I don't recommend that you consume a ridiculous amount of beans every single day for an entire week - I do suggest that you use them as a meat replacement - on occasion.  Swap out the traditional chicken or beef filling to create something  new like these Black Bean Quesadillas.  They're so flavorful and delicious - you'll never even miss the meat.  

Black Bean Quesadillas
1 can black beans
1/2 onion, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
1 roasted red pepper, finely sliced
1/2 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup Colby Jack cheese
flour tortillas
avocado, sliced

Drain and rinse beans. 

Heat oil in skillet.  Add onion and cook 10 minutes.  

Add garlic and cook 2 minutes.  

Add taco seasoning and cook 2 minutes.

Add beans, red pepper, tomato paste, sugar, salt and water.  Cook 15 minutes.

Mash mixture to break up beans. 

Sprinkle cheese over tortilla.  

Spread a spoonful of bean mixture over cheese.  

Top with more cheese and another tortilla. 

Heat oil in skillet.  Fry quesadillas until browned on each side.  

Cut tortillas in wedges and serve with avocado slices. 

The definition of a quesadilla is a tortilla filled with cheese and heated.  (I had to look it up. 🤣)  I always thought a quesadilla had to be fold like a crepe - not stacked, grilled cheese style.  I was wrong.  By definition - a quesadilla can be either folded or prepared flat and sliced like a pizza, into wedges.  As long as it contains warm cheese and a tortilla - it's a quesadilla and I'm a fan.  

Ciao!

Click here for aprintable verion of this recipe