Sep 10

Sep 10 9.10.13 Poblano, Black Bean and Shrimp Quesadillas

Recently, on a whim, I went through the refrigerator and found that we had no less than 8 kinds of cheese on hand. For real. I know this is Wisconsin and all, but still, that’s quite a lot of cheese. Everything ranging from fresh mozzarella and parmesan, to smoked butterkase, Hook’s pepper jack and Pleasant Ridge Reserve. I repeat, that’s a lot of cheese. It’s possible we may have a cheese problem. Which is why I decided the other night to try to put a dent in our cheese collection by making up some quesadillas.

Of course, while a plain cheese quesadilla is delicious, I tend to doctor up my quesadillas a bit to make them more interesting. Beans, veggies, various meats, spices - all of these work to transform the humble cheese quesadilla (which let’s be honest, is more of a snack) into a full fledged meal.

So on this fateful night, with my mind made up to cook up some quesadillas, I scoured the fridge, cupboards, and countertops to see what I could find to quesadillify. And I came up with some great finds. Black beans, poblano peppers, cherry tomatoes, shrimp - I knew we were in for some serious deliciousness. And before long, we were, with slightly less cheese crowding our fridge, enjoying some tasty, melty quesadillas topped with cherry tomato salsa.

While it was a valiant effort, there are still 7 kinds of cheese in the fridge. Oh well. There are worse fates than having too much cheese.

Poblano, Black Bean and Shrimp Quesadillas

Makes 2 quesadillas

¼ lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 small onion diced
2 poblano peppers chopped
½ can (about 7-8 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp ground cumin
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it hotter)
salt
pepper
½ -¾ c grated pepper jack cheese
4 6-inch flour tortillas
quick cherry tomato salsa (recipe follows), sliced avocado, and lime wedges for serving

1. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp and lime juice and cook until opaque and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove shrimp from pan cut into smaller pieces if shrimp are large.

2. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in the pan and once hot, add the chopped onion and poblano peppers. Sautee until peppers and onions are soft and onions are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes, then add the black beans, cumin, and cayenne and continue cooking until beans are warmed through. Remove from heat and mix in the shrimp. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. To assemble quesadillas, place two tortillas down and top each with a quarter of the grated cheese. Top each with half of the black bean filling, followed by the remaining cheese and the other two tortillas.

4. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, place the quesadillas on the skillet, cooking until bottom tortilla is golden brown. Carefully flip, and continue cooking until the other side is golden brown.

5. Cut quesadillas into quarters and serve with quick cherry tomato salsa, sliced avocado, and lime wedges.