Jump to Recipe

My son just finished a home ec class at his middle school. He learned how to make quesadillas and said they tasted good. I was surprised because when he was 5, he suddenly declared he disliked cheese quesadillas and would only eat grilled cheese. On raisin bread. Without the crust. Sigh.

When I asked him why the sudden acceptance towards quesadillas, he said it was because I left out the chicken. Seriously? All this time, it was missing chicken. I was determined to make the best damn chicken quesadilla for my picky kid.

Making chicken quesadillas barely requires a recipe. It’s just meat and melted cheese, sandwiched between a couple tortillas, right? How hard can it be? The most difficult part is flipping it over without losing half of the filling, but there’s a trick to prevent that. Regardless, I wanted to get some inspiration, which I found in The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. And then completed changed it up.

I recommend making the pico de gallo first. The longer it sits, the better it’ll taste so feel free to make this the day before.

To make the pico de gallo, cut up six Roma tomatoes with a serrated knife. I usually cut off the stem end, and then use the flat stem end side to slice the tomato down the middle. Face the flat side down on the cutting board and cut lengthwise into strips, and then dice across. Don’t worry if the pieces are not perfect. People will just be impressed that you made fresh pico. Of course, you could buy it pre-made and pour it in a bowl. I won’t judge.

I know this is incredibly time consuming so trust me when I say it goes much faster (and safer) if you use a serrated knife, which cuts through the tomato skin easily. This prevents the knife from slipping around so you don’t accidentally cut yourself.

Chop up some onions and cilantro. It looks like a lot of cilantro, but it wilts easily (sort of like spinach). Then, finely dice a jalapeño with the white membrane for more heat. Scrape out out the membrane first if you want less heat.

Squeeze a lime over it all and mix. Now you have pico de gallo. Yes, it’s that easy. This recipe makes a lot so you’ll have plenty for leftovers on chips or even a salad.

After that’s done, chop up your chicken and then in a bowl, season it with salt, pepper, and taco seasonings. Sauté it in a large skillet until it’s cooked through, but not overdone. Don’t forget you’ll be cooking it some more later. Remove the chicken.

Slice up some veggies and throw them in the same pan that you cooked the chicken in. I like using colored peppers and red onion, but you can use any veggie you you like. Sauté them in the pan until the peppers are slightly tender. They might have a few char marks, which is fine.

Confession time. This is when I should have taken another picture to show you what to look for, but I was busy nibbling on the chicken. Sorry. My bad.

Turn down the heat (or your tortillas will burn) and melt some butter on the skillet. You could use a separate griddle to make more at a time, but I like having only one pan to clean.

Lay down a tortilla and add a ton of cheese. Adding the cheese first acts like a glue and helps the chicken and veggies stay inside. Place the chicken and veggies on top and pile on more cheese. Cover with another tortilla. This makes a very large quesadilla so if you want to make a smaller one, feel free to place the cheese, chicken, and veggies on one half of the tortilla and fold it over like an omelet. I have to admit that this makes it easier to flip too.

After a couple minutes, take a peek underneath to see if the tortilla is golden. When it is, using the biggest spatula you own, hold your hand over the center of the quesadilla and expertly flip that sucker in one single motion. Do not be hesitant or tentative. You want to be quick about it or you might lose some chicken, which isn’t the end of the world, but it’s nice when every stays in its proper place.

Cook for another couple of minutes until the other side is golden and the cheese is completely melted (it’s ok to lift the top to check). Slide the quesadilla onto a plate and scoop a pile of pico on the side.

Yummy and fairly quick. It tastes better than it looks. Now off I go to work on my photography skills.

Jump to Recipe

Anything balsamic is one of my favorite things. I used to think balsamic was this watery vinegar stuff, but I’ve since learned that it should be syrupy and packed with flavor. Because it’s so flavorful, it makes an awesome marinade for practically everything from chicken and beef to vegetables and potatoes. It’s this wonderful sweet, tangy glaze that comes in a bottle that makes food magically tasty. Win win.

Balsamic chicken also reminds me of Thanksgiving so it’s a great recipe to share the week before. The secret ingredient is sage, which I’m a big fan of when it comes to turkey day. Sage should have a big presence on Thanksgiving and it certainly does with this chicken recipe.

Start with fresh garlic and herbs, like rosemary and sage (of course). I used dried oregano because I was out of fresh.

In a large bowl, mix your garlic and seasonings with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a little sugar. Drop your chicken in. Combine it around with your hands until the chicken is well coated. Throw it on a foil-lined baking sheet. That’s it. You don’t have to even wait to marinade.

Bake for about 25 minutes and out comes dinner. Serve with your favorite sides. Now everyone lives happily ever after, or until the next meal.

Jump to Recipe

This easy dish lets you throw a bunch of things together and presto! Out comes a meal! What’s not to love? Plus it’s something you wouldn’t expect: teriyaki chicken. Most teriyaki chicken recipes require you to cook the chicken, then the veggies, and then the rice, usually separately. Although that’s not hard, sometimes you don’t feel like standing over the stove. This recipe doesn’t require you to. Instead, you can prop your feet up and relax while it bakes in the oven. It’s also healthy and a good way to eat your veggies.

There’s a little prep required. In addition to chopping up some veggies, you’ll need to grate some ginger.

I know what you’re thinking. How do I peel this darn this before I grate it? OK, maybe you weren’t thinking that, but you could have been. Let’s go with it.

There are a couple easy tricks. If you want to mince ginger, scrap a spoon along the skin and it peels right off. For this recipe, you need grated ginger so just grate it using a fine shredder. It’ll remove the skin and fibers, leaving you with a pile of pure ginger. Super easy. No peeling required.

You’ll also need to chop up chicken into cubes. Using boneless, skinless chicken is the easiest.

Whisk together your sauce and add the chicken. Throw your raw rice into a 9×13 casserole pan and pour the chicken mixture on top. All the ingredients will end up where they should, but it’s a good idea to spread out your chicken evenly.

Pile your veggies on top. I love veggies. Yes, I’m weird. The more veggies, the better. I used a lot so that it covers the entire casserole dish. Don’t feel like you have to do this. I used red onions, broccoli, and red peppers, but you can use any veggie you prefer.

Cover it with foil, pop it into the oven, and kick back. Play a word game. Chat with a friend. Watch Queer Eye. You’ll need to pause after 25 minutes to briefly remove the foil, but then go back to your “me” time. Assuming you don’t have a kid chanting “Mom…Mom…Mom….”

After another 20-25 minutes, pull out the dish. You shouldn’t see any liquid and the rice will be tender. The veggies should still retain most of their color. You don’t want mushy, overcooked veggies. If that’s what you’re used to, no wonder you don’t like vegetables.

I like to mix it all up and then serve it in a bowl, topped with green onions. Pardon my bowl choice. My pasta bowls were clean. My pretty white bowls were not. Oh well. Life goes on. It all tastes good regardless. 🙂