chipotle roasted veggie quesadillas

okay - easy meal idea! take the chipotle roasted veggies below, combine with tortillas and cheese, crisp them up on your stove - and viola!! amazing flavors! loved this easy way to use up leftovers, too.

chipotle roasted veggie quesadillas

chipotle roasted veggies
cheese (i'd use jack or pepper jack)
flour tortillas

1. place cheese on half of a flour tortilla. sprinkle on some chipotle roasted veggies. fold in half. cook on stove until cheese is melted and tortilla is crisped. serve with your favorite toppings - salsa, sour cream, guacamole, the works.

up next - that deliciously easy salsa you see in the pictures above!

chipotle roasted vegetable layered salad

here's another delicious way to eat some roasted veggies. i love cafe rio-style salads more than almost any food on this earth (except cheeseburgers, i've made that confession before). mexi-style salads with beans, rice, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cilantro lime ranch dressing.... and now chipotle roasted veggies - all over a warm, toasted, cheesy tortilla.

i may even like this better than the meat in these salads. and when you roll up the tortilla at the end with the leftovers still in the tortilla after the lettuce is gone, the flavors are just perfect.

chipotle roasted vegetable layered salad

cilantro lime rice
ala a friend of the skinny bovine

3 cups cooked white rice (1 1/2 cups uncooked)
1 cup loosely packed cilantro
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil

pulse cilantro, onions, lime juice, salt and oil in blender, scrapping down the sides as needed, until well combined. fold mixture into warm rice.

chipotle roasted veggies
from perry's plate

1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
1 poblano pepper, cut into matchsticks (i used green here once and it was great!)
1 medium zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 medium onion, halved and sliced very thinly
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
3 T olive oil
1-2 tsp minced or pureed chipotles in adobo sauce (see note here)
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

place all sliced vegetables on a large rimmed baking sheet. in a small bowl whisk together the oil, chipotles, and cumin. pour over the vegetables and sprinkle a pinch or two of salt and pepper, to taste. using your hands, toss the vegetables in the oil mixture and ensure that everything is coated well. spread evenly in the pan and roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so and shaking the pan to redistribute the vegetables evenly.

black beans
from perry's plate

1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt
1/2 cup salsa or pico de gallo

to prepare the beans, place the drained and rinsed beans in a small saucepan with about 2-3 tablespoons of water. stir in cumin, salsa, and season to taste. let them simmer over medium heat until they're heated through.


i posted this dressing below a few years ago, but i've since refined it a bit by thinning it with salsa verde and milk. i've tried a few of the tomatillo-based cafe rio-style dressings and still like this one better!

cilantro lime ranch dressing
ala skinny bovine

1 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
3/4 cup low fat mayo
1 bunch cilantro
1 package ranch dressing mix
4 tablespoons salsa verde (green salsa)
1 clove garlic
1/8 teaspoon tabasco sauce (or more to taste if you want it spicier)
juice of 1 lime

blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. thin to your liking with milk and more salsa verde and blend again.

putting it all together...
toast a tortilla on your stove top in a pan. flip the tortilla and spread cheese to melt on the other side. when cheese is melted remove from heat.

on the tortilla, place a spoonful of rice, beans and roasted veggies. top with lettuce to your liking. add cilantro lime ranch dressing and any other toppings you desire - sour cream, guacamole, tortilla strips, etc.

let's roast some veggies: stacked roasted vegetable enchiladas

let's roast some veggies! i've been roasting everything around here. i never thought i'd find a reason good enough to turn on my oven when it's so hot outside (my my typical summer-type cooking here), but i have! ooooh, the flavor.

the only veggie i'd roasted previously is tomatoes (for this heavenly roasted tomato soup), which i'd recommend doing for almost any recipe. i always want my tomatoes roasted now. and yes, i know tomatoes aren't technically a veggie. :)

turns out roasted anything is amazing.

we'll start with these, even though they are pretty far off the beaten enchilada path. i found them on perry's plate and i love what she said about them - "I love ooey-gooey, cheesy enchiladas, but I thought this fresher, lighter version was great as well." i completely agree. these were a fun, healthy way to change it up.

stacked roasted vegetable enchiladas
from perry's plate

find the recipe here!

my only changes were to use more salsa and tortillas, only 1 red bell pepper, less onions, and to spread it in a 13x9" pan.

more roasted veggies to come!

crispy cheese and egg burritos

before we roast us some veggies, i just have to share this recipe. i eat it often. okay, more than often. my bff's husband makes these for them and from the minute i made it its my go-to lunch or dinner when there's no other plan (remember, my hubby works out of town sometimes... we often run on no dinner plan these days). this is my bff who i remember frying just cheese in a pan in a pan in college. ha. love her. and her crispy cheese. wowsers!

make sure to follow the directions closely - the cheese all crisped to the bottom of the egg rocks my world. enjoy!!

crispy cheese and egg burritos
ala mark and bek

1 egg
salt and pepper
a handful of cheese (cheddar or cheddar jack)
tortilla
salsa

1. heat a frying pan over medium heat. spray with non-stick spray. crack egg into small frying pan. break yolk and spread around. lightly season with salt and pepper.
2. let the egg cook until 1/2 way done. spread a generous handful of cheese over the egg and let it cook another minute while the cheese oozes into the gooey side of the egg.
3. flip the egg so the cheese side is now down. finish cooking egg and make sure cheese gets brown and crispy.
4. when egg is almost done, put the tortilla on top of the egg in the pan and let it get warm.
5. wrap egg in warm tortilla, crispy cheese side down (otherwise the salsa will soak in and make the cheese not crispy), and top with salsa.


that's my dad's new salsa on the burrito. i'll share that recipe soon!