Where's the beef?

Mexican food is one of my favorite types of cuisine, but the refried beans, salty tortilla chips, and mounds of cheese can sometimes be a little too much for me. Recently, to get my Mexican fare fix, I've been making quesadillas at home and revising the recipe to make it more heart healthy - not to mention cheaper. A pack of eight wheat tortillas, a few avocados, a carton of grape tomatoes, one package of meat, and a bag of store brand Mexican shredded cheese comes out to be a lot cheaper than an entree and a few margaritas at the Mexican restaurant down the road. To make these quesadillas, I use ground turkey for the meat (in place of beef or pork), and load the sucker up with vegetables and some cheese for "glue." Below is the recipe for my turkey quesadillas, and as a disclaimer, I like my food spicy - so feel free to revise to your own tastebuds.

Turkey Quesadillas
Serves: 4

-4 whole wheat soft tortillas
-1 package ground turkey (or ground turkey breast)
-2 avocados, sliced lengthwise
-1 medium yellow onion, chopped
-1 carton grape tomatoes, cut in halves
-1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
-Jarred jalapenos, chopped (use to your heat preference; I use about 10)
-Several dashes of hot sauce
-Chili powder, cumin, dried cilantro, salt, pepper (I don't measure out my spices; just eyeball the amounts used)
-4 tbsp. sour cream (optional)
-1 tbsp. jarred garlic, minced
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1 tbsp. lime juice
-1/2 bag of frozen corn

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. When warm, add chopped onion and cook until transluscent. Add ground turkey and cook until no longer pink. Pour in frozen corn. Add desired amount of chili powder, cumin, cilantro, salt and pepper. When almost done cooking, add garlic, chopped jalapenos, lime juice and hot sauce.

Butter one side of each tortilla, and place butter-side-down on frying pan. Sprinkle half of 1/4 cup shredded cheese on the bottom layer of each tortilla. Place two heaping spoonfuls of turkey mixture on top of cheese layer, and add chopped tomatoes and avocado slices. Top with the other half of the 1/4 single serving of cheese, and fold tortilla in half. Cook until tortilla is golden brown on each side (I place a bowl on top of the quesadilla so both sides get extra crispy and cook faster). Put 1 tablespoon of sour cream on the side of each quesadilla.

On the side, I normally have a 1 cup single serving of Success' Boil-in-a-Bag Brown Rice (it cooks in 10 minutes!), and I add a little butter, chili powder, cumin, dried cilantro, salt and pepper to add some flavor - it tends to be very bland without the extra spices.

What revisions do you make to recipes to make them more healthy, and/or affordable?

Pin It