Vegan Quesadillas

I’m not sure if these actually qualify as a quesadilla since I didn’t use any cheese, vegan or otherwise, but I don’t know a better term. So we’ll go with it. I used sprouted grain tortillas that were on the smaller side (7/8 inches in diameter) so if you’re using bigger ones you might want to increase the amount of filling you put into each one. As the recipe currently is, it provided a total of four quesadillas. Take a look!

Ingredients:

• ½ tablespoon olive oil, more as needed
• ½ onion, diced
• ½ green pepper, diced
• ½ yellow pepper, diced
• ½ red pepper, diced
• 2.5 ounces shitake mushroom (1/2 a package), diced
• 1 cup kale, cut into roughly 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup black beans
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Spicy salsa, if you want it

Instructions:

1. Place a skillet on the burner and bring it to a medium/high heat. Add the olive oil and onions. Allow the onions to sweat and lose some of their color, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the peppers. Continue to cook, bringing the heat to medium for another 5 minutes.
3. Once the peppers have started to cook through, add the kale. Mix everything together to give the kale a good coating of the other vegetables. Add the mushrooms.
4. Let the mushrooms cook down a bit (2 – 3 minutes) and then add the black beans and spices. Stir, allow the beans to warm up. Take off the heat. Either place the mixture in a bowl, or set aside.
5. In the same, or different skillet, warm just a bit of olive oil and place your tortilla on the pan, over medium/high heat. Add about a cup of the vegetable mixture to one side and fold the empty side over. Smoosh (yeah, I said it) the empty side against the filling to help it “stick”. I did two of these side by side so that we could eat at the same time. I kept them on the first side for about 4 minutes (or until they started turning a delicious looking brown) and then flipped them over for the same amount of time. Serve with spicy salsa.

*If you’re making more than two, keep in mind that your pan is now very hot, so it’s probably a good idea to lower the heat a bit.