SPINACH AND MUSHROOM QUESADILLAS
CAN I USE FRESH SPINACH?
I also tried this recipe with fresh spinach to determine which is better. I added fresh, finely cut spinach in the Quesadillas but not sautéing. The quesadillas were delicious. However, they did turn slightly watery if they were in the hot pan too long or were sitting on the plate for too long before eating.
Another method to use fresh spinach is to saute it until all of the water has cooked off, but you’ll likely require a massive amount of spinach to yield enough quesadillas after being sauteed.
CHEESE OPTIONS
I made simple quesadillas with mushrooms and spinach using the traditional mozzarella cheese. However, you can enjoy and enhance the flavor by removing or using another kind of cheese. Adding a few crumbs of feta or spoons of grated Parmesan to the mozzarella could provide a bit of flavor. The addition of smokey gouda would be delicious! If you’d like slightly more spicy, you can substitute pepperjack for the cheese.
INGREDIENTS
Eight oz. mushrooms ($1.69)
1 Tbsp of cooking oil ($0.04)
14 tsp crushed garlic ($0.02)
1/4 tsp salt divided ($0.02)
1/4 tsp freshly cracked and seasoned pepper to be split ($0.02)
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper ($0.02)
1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.84)
Eight oz. mozzarella*, shredded ($1.85)
1/4 cup sour cream ($0.29)
Five 7-inch flour tortillas ($0.94)
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the mushrooms into pieces and place them in an oven-proof skillet. Add the cooking oil, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, half salt, and pepper. Sauté on medium-high until the mushrooms have released all their water and it has evaporated from the pan. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet.
While the mushrooms cook while the mushrooms are cooking, defrost the spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible. When you’ve squeezed it, there should be about a cup of greens (loosely packed).
Add the spinach, mushrooms, shredded mozzarella, sour cream, and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper to a bowl. Stir to mix.
Mix approximately half a cup of the creamy spinach-mushroom mixture on each tortilla and spread it to cover on one edge. Fold it inwards to seal.
Make quesadillas by cooking them in a skillet on medium-high heat until crisp and brown on the outside and soft inside (I don’t make use of oil or butter in the skillet; you could use oil if you prefer an extra crispy texture).
Cut the quesadillas in half and serve!
