Bean quesadillas

We love bean quesadillas for a great weeknight meal. The ingredients for the bean mix come from the pantry. They are also great in the lunchbox the next day. A perfect low-cost vegetarian meal the whole family can enjoy. 

BEAN QUESADILLAS

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp / 20ml of olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
• 1 tsp of cumin ground
• 1 tsp of coriander ground
• 1 tbsp/20ml of water
• 400g / 14oz of tinned (canned) diced tomatoes
• 800g / 28oz of red kidney beans (tinned), drained & rinsed
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of pepper
• 8 tortillas

Salsa

• ½ cup of corn (tinned or frozen)
• 1 eschalot (shallot)
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 8 sprigs of fresh coriander / cilantro, chopped
• 2 slices of jalapeño chillies (from jar)
• ½ cup of natural / plain / greek yoghurt

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and garlic on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
2. Add ground cumin and coriander, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add water to stop the spices burning.
3. Add tinned/canned tomatoes, kidney beans, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes stirring occasionally. The mix needs to be quite dry.
5. Place a tortilla on the bench, spread some bean mixture evenly, then top with another tortilla.
6. Heat a sandwich press or non-stick frypan and place the quesadilla and cook until golden. Turn over to cook on the other side if using a frypan.
7. Combine salsa ingredients – corn, eschalot (shallot), tomato, fresh coriander/cilantro – and set aside.
8. To serve, cut the quesadilla into quarters, transfer to a plate and top with salsa, yoghurt and jalapeño chilli if desired.

TIP
Double the ingredients for the bean mix and freeze half for later weeks. Great as quesadillas or a nacho mix. Add a tablespoon of pickling liquid from the jalapeño chillies can be added to the bean mix for extra flavour. If cooking the red kidney beans yourself, soak overnight, then rinse. Place in a saucepan covered with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until tender (at least an hour).