Blogs / yum! / Summer 2011 / Healthy Quesadillas Tonight

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A blog about food

Healthy Quesadillas Tonight

In every successful diet, there is always a little wiggle room—a spontaneous, decadent dinner or that one delicious sweet treat. I am heading off on vacation at the end of the week and really am working to be healthy before I leave town. My day started off right with a smoothie and a yummy grilled chicken wrap for lunch. But now it is after work and six o’clock has rolled around. Like we all are after work, I am a bit exhausted and before I left my office I contemplated how easy it would be to either drive-through or order-in. Thank goodness for my browser homepage’s Quote of the Day. Before I saw it,  I was destined for giving up my healthy living for some do-or-die pizza extravaganza with chips and a coke.

Sally Edwards, a triathlete and health and fitness writer, appeared as one of my daily quotes with the clarity of mind I was clearly lacking as I contemplated the ease of my couch and a delivery service:

“If we're not willing to settle for junk living, we certainly shouldn't settle for junk food”  -Sally Edwards

And off to the kitchen I went to see what I could whip up in thirty minutes.

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Jalapeño Honey Grilled Shrimp Quesadillas

(Chef’s note: Every recipe that I ‘make up’ as I go along can be altered for more (or less!) servings. I also cook to my tastes, which are a bit on the spicy side)

Jalapeño Honey (This is available in some specialty stores out there so grab one to use.)
Or make your own:
1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced
1 cup of honey
1 splash of oil

Sauté the jalapeño in oil on medium-high heat, once sizzling add a seed or two for heat. Cook 2 minutes. Add honey and reduce temperature to medium, stirring constantly so nothing burns or sticks. Sizzle an additional 3 minutes, and then pour into a container for use later – or let cool slightly. (We don’t want to cook the shrimp!) Coat shrimp and let marinate for 10 minutes.

For the Quesadillas:
1 pound of shrimp
1 cup of jalapeño honey
Crumbled goat cheese
Garlic-stuffed olives, chopped
Roasted red peppers
Fresh basil

Throw the shrimp on the grill (or in the pan on the stovetop if grilling isn’t your thing) and cook until done. Layer your quesadilla with all ingredients and pop into the oven on 350 degrees for about 8 minutes to achieve desired crispiness. Yum!

 

Fun tip:

Canned roasted red peppers are always yummy to have on hand and have vitamins C and A – both powerful antioxidants. A quick way to roast at home if you have a gas stove: throw the pepper right on the burner in the flame, watch carefully and turn with tongs until the skin has been charred. Run under cool tap water and ‘peel’ the burnt skin off the pepper to reveal the yummy roasted inside