something quick and yummy, por favor

Let's get right to it: we're making quesadillas. These little treasures are a great snack or meal, and can usually be made with things you already have in your kitchen. (If not, may we humbly suggest that if you like the idea, you start keeping these things in your kitchen! And then, oh, how easy it will be.)

You need:
Tortillas*
Cheese
Salsa

And you can run with just that! But you can also add:
Refried Beans**
Veggies (we like some mix of onion, mushroom, peppers, and/or spinach)
Avocado (or guacamole)
Sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
Meat

You can choose to make a full-moon or half-moon quesadilla.
Full-moon = tortilla on the bottom, ingredients in the middle, another tortilla on top
Half-moon = tortilla on the bottom, ingredients on top, then fold the tortilla in half

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. (Or don't, but this way is so easy to clean up.)
3. If you're using veggies, saute them in a pan over medium or medium-high heat.
4. Once the oven's preheated and/or your veggies are done, put tortillas in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
5. If you're just using cheese and salsa, then do just that! If you're using the other stuff, we like to go with beans, then veggies and/or meat, then cheese. (If you're making the full-moon version, leave the top tortilla off at this point.)
6. Pop your creations in the oven and heat for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
7. If you're doing full-moons, add the other tortilla; if half-moons, fold the tortilla over. Then pop back in the oven for just a minute or two to finish heating. (I actually like to run mine under the broiler to get 'em crispy!)
8. Pull 'em out, slice, garnish (if you're having avocado, sour cream, etc.), and serve!

And now you're done. So delicious and so very fast!

And in case you're interested in a few more specifics:

Tortillas: These are great , and you can keep them in your freezer! (You can freeze other tortillas, but they will not be easy to peel apart. Because of this and a slight misunderstanding about actual words being spoken, in our family these are known as "Easy Peel tortillas."

Refried Beans: Old El Paso makes a "vegetarian" version that is mighty tasty. It contains less fat and you won't even miss it.

Variation: Of course you can make non-dairy quesadillas! Definitely use refried beans and veggies, and put salsa on top of that before you heat it (to keep things from drying out). To add creaminess, serve with guacamole!

Technique: if you're doing a half-moon, you might want to go light on the filling, so that it doesn't ooze out. But then again, even if it does...