Vegetarian Cheese Quesadilla

Quesadillas are easy to make and fun to eat. We had relatives over for dinner tonight, so I made some quesadilla canapés as an appetizer. I prepared two fillings, one with shredded beef and a vegetarian option as well.

I wanted the vegetarian ones to have a chewy consistency, so I did not use vegetarian chorizo as I usually do when I make vegetarian Mexican dishes. I used shredded, fried tofu that I blended with harissa to add a little kick to the dish. Harissa is a spicy paste that is used as a condiment in Northern African cuisine. I think the grainy paste blended with the shredded tofu loosely resembles the texture of the meat version. I'll post the recipe for harissa tomorrow.

Home-Made Corn and Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla

Tortillas are the foundation upon which many delicious Mexican dishes are made. They are readily available at any supermarket, and I bet many home cooks never consider making them from scratch when preparing burritos, enchiladas and the like. That's unfortunate, since the ingredients and process of making tortillas are both incredibly simple.

If you are fortunate enough to have a specialty Mexican market nearby as we do, you can purchase the masa dough freshly made and ready to press or roll out. But this time I wanted to make a healthier version using whole wheat flour. The texture of the tortilla looks very similar to paratha, or Indian flat bread, but the rolling part is much easier, especially if you have a tortilla dough press. The tortilla comes out perfectly each time in a nice round disk.