Black bean and mushroom quesadillas, roasted acorn squash and a side salad

So this is an adaptation of this: original recipe.  I didn’t have an avocado so I felt out the guacamole and the lemon juice and the cumin mix just didn’t sound appealing to me. I followed the recipe for the black beans and mushrooms and the acorn squash which was sweet and delish!!!

 

Black bean and mushroom quesadillas , roasted acorn squash and side salad

Serves 4. Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients for acorn squash:

1 medium-to-large acorn squash
1 t olive oil

Ingredients for quesadillas:

4 White corn tortillas
2 t olive oil
1 sm onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced small (from my garden)
4 oz baby bella or cremini mushrooms, sliced (you could also use regular white mushrooms, though they’re not as hearty)
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t salt
1 14-oz can (about 1 3/4 cups) black beans

1. START THE ACORN SQUASH. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush the cut surface with olive oil. Place the squash cut-side down on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes or until you can easily poke a fork in it.

2. START THE QUESADILLA FILLING. Place the olive oil in a large fry pan and heat over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and cook for about 6-7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft.

3. While the onion mixture is cooking, MASH THE BEANS. Rinse and drain the black beans. Put them in a medium bowl with a little water to moisten them (start with a couple tablespoons and add more as needed) and mash with a potato masher or the bottom of a glass. The beans should be nice and gooey, but they don’t have to be perfectly mashed.

4. CONTINUE THE QUESADILLA FILLING. Add the chopped mushrooms, chili powder, and salt to the onion mixture. Cook for an additional 10 minutes until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally.

6. FINISH THE QUESADILLA FILLING. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the bean mixture. Stir to incorporate, adding water if necessary to keep things somewhat moist and gooey. Heat 2 more minutes, then turn off the fire.

7. ASSEMBLE THE QUESADILLAS. Preheat a separate; dry fry pan (preferably one with angled, as opposed to straight, edges) over medium heat. Place one tortilla on the fry pan and spread half the bean mixture on it, leaving at least 1 inch around the edges. Top with another tortilla. After about 2 minutes, flip using a large spatula and lots of loving care. After about 2 more minutes, remove from heat and repeat the process to make another quesadilla.

8. TAKE THE ACORN SQUASH OUT OF THE OVEN, if you haven’t already.

9. TO SERVE: Cut the two quesadillas into wedges, and cut each half of the squash in half again.

Serve with extra hot sauce if you like. 

10. any kind of salad you like put on the side

This came out really good.

The second time I made for lunch it’s cause I had leftovers but this time I made them in my Forman. I put one corn tortilla on the grill put the bean mixture a little cheese this time and another tortilla, grilled for about a min on high… OMG YUM!!! Even better this time. I served them with some grilled shrimp and brown rice that I mixed some southwestern corn mix in…