21 September 2010


This is a dish that Jim came up with one night when I didn't have time to make supper. I had some chicken thawed for another dish, but something came up and we ran short on time and I had to feed the baby right during the time I usually make supper. So Jim went into the kitchen and created this dish. He doesn't cook very often, mostly because I like to cook so much, but this dish proves that he really can step up to the plate when necessary!

Jim's Chicken Taco Quesadillas

Ingredients:
¼ cup taco seasoning
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
4 chicken breasts, sliced
4 large flour tortillas
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Cilantro, for garnish
Sour cream
Salsa

Directions:
Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine taco seasoning and 2 tbsp oil in a large plastic bag. Add chicken and shake to thoroughly coat. Place chicken slices on grill. Grill until no longer pink, turning once. Remove from heat.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Take each tortilla and place 2 tbsp of the cheese, then ¼ of the chicken, and then another 2 tbsp of the cheese on one half. Fold tortilla over. Place in skillet and cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Remove from pan and cut into wedges. Garnish with cilantro and serve with sour cream and salsa.

Makes 4 servings.


Jim likes to do it that way, but an alternate way is to leave the chicken whole, season it, grill it, then cut it into strips. Either way works just fine. He says that the chicken gets better covered with the seasoning if you cut it first. He makes a good point. But if you were inclined to grill your chicken outside, I think it would be better to grill it whole, and then slice it so that the slices don't fall through the grates.

These quesadillas are really easy to customize to your liking. Jim likes to put some taco sauce inside his quesadilla before he cooks it. That's too much flavor for me; I take mine without. But I do like some finely chopped onion in mine. You can add anything you like in there. Just make sure you keep a good amount of cheese to glue it all together!

We actually don't serve these with sour cream and salsa like the recipe says. Our favorite condiment for these quesadillas is my Cilantro Cream Sauce. The cool creaminess of the sauce is the perfect balance to the spiciness of the filling. Yum!



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1 comment:

  1. From Facebook:
    "I just made quesadillas very similar to this the other night. So quick and easy! And delicious!!" (Sarah K.)

    ReplyDelete