Chicken, Gruyere, and Veggie Quesadillas

Wow, long time no post.  No, I haven't forgotten about you, my two very dear readers, I've just been making a lot of old standbys in the past few weeks... homemade chicken nuggets, tacos with homemade taco seasoning, and pierogie bake, among other things.




Tonight, I had litle in the fridge and no meal planned.  To avoid the grocery store on a weekend, I took out some frozen chicken breast this morning.  But no plan.  As the time to start cooking approached, I realized I had some gruyere in the fridge that was intended for something or other, so turned to Mr. Google and searched for recipes with chicken and gruyere.  This recipe from Mark Bittman, which appeared in Cooking Light's April 2011 issue was the most promising thing that turned up. 

The original recipe included mustard greens, which don't typically appear in my fridge when it's well stocked, let alone when it's at the dregs.  So I turned to my dreg filled fridge and dug out some veggies I thought would go well with the recipe, and threw in some tomatoes and red pepper.  Inspired and brilliant; it was excellent.

I liked this preparation of the quesadillas; we typically cook it in a skillet, but I thought it was much easier to get them crispy this way.

I took pictures of this lovely meal, but the camera cable has disappeared in my disheveled and disorganized home.  One day they'll get uploaded....

Chicken, Gruyere, and Veggie Quesadillas, adapted from Mark Bittman as appearing in Cooking Light's April 2011 issue

• YIELD: 2 servings (serving size: 2 quesadillas)
• TOTAL: 26 MINUTES
• COURSE: Main Dishes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts(about 5 ounces), diced into small pieces
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• Dash of kosher salt
• 4 (6-inch) whole-wheat tortillas
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Gruyère cheese
• 1 plum tomato, seeded, juiced, and diced
• 1 red pepper, seeded and diced 

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
• 2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt over chicken; toss to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic; cook 3 minute.  Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon.
• 3. Pour oil remaining in the skillet into a jelly-roll pan and spread; arrange tortillas in a single layer on pan. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheese evenly over each tortilla; evenly divided chicken, then tomatoes and peppers, over each tortilla. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes or until cheese begins to melt. Remove pan from oven; carefully fold each tortilla in half, pressing gently to close. Bake quesadillas an additional 10 minutes or until browned and crisp, turning carefully after 5 minutes.
• Let cool

Mark Bittman, Cooking Light
APRIL 2011