Vegetarian Sincronizada (Quesadillas)

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Tortilla based Dishes

Dish: Sincronizada

We are starting a brand new edition of Blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Tortilla based dishes'. Valli gave us a list of tortilla dishes to choose from to make our lives easy. Tortilla is nothing but the Spanish version of Indian rotis. They are soft and made with finely ground wheat flour or corn flour.

So for the first day, I picked Sincronizada. The name seemed very complicated but making it is not complicated at all. Sincronizada is usually confused with Quesadilla, but they are considered are completely different dishes. Quesadilla is traditionally made with corn flour and is single folded. Whereas sincronizada is made with flour tortilla, has 'ham' as a mandatory ingredient and is usually made as a sandwich.

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Grilled Vegetable Quesadilla

Blogging Marathon# 31: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Mexican Cuisine
Dish: Grilled Vegetable Quesadilla

We are starting BM# 31 today and Valli had very interesting themes, all starting with the letter 'M'. So for the first week, I picked my most favorite theme, 'Mexican Cuisine'. Mexican dishes feature at least once or twice a week in our household. We all love beans, cheese and spicy food, so Mexican cuisine ranks right next to Indian for us.

So for the next 3 days, I'm going to post some of my family favorites. For the first day, I have quesadillas which are basically Mexican version of grilled cheese sandwich. My cheese loving son loves these. Add some grilled/ roasted veggies or beans and you have yourself a filling meal.

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Recipes for my Cinco de Mayo feast

This post has been due for quite sometime, I posted my pics for Cinco de Mayo feast on Cinco de Mayo day (1st of May). So better late than never, here are the recipes.

Rice & Beans:

Basmati rice – 1cup, rinsed and soaked for at least 15 minutes
Black beans – 1 cup, cooked
Chickpeas – 1 cup, cooked
Zucchini – 2 medium, chopped
Carrot – 1 medium, chopped
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Tomato puree – 1 cup (I used canned crushed tomatoes with basil)
Cumin powder – 1tbsp
Chili powder – 2tsp (or to taste)
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp (optional)
Green onions – 2, for garnish

Method:

• Cook basmati rice and keep aside to cool.
  
• In a large skillet, heat 2tbsp oil on medium-low flame. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
  
• Add zucchini & carrots; cover and cook till the veggies are ¾th cooked.
  
• Add the beans; cover and cook till the veggies and beans are completely cooked through. Add tomato puree, cumin powder, chili powder & salt. Simmer for 6-8 minutes.
  
• Add the cooked rice, mix well making sure that the rice does not get mushy. Add lemon juice (if using) and mix well. Garnish with green onions; serve with guacamole, salsa (or guaca-salsa) and sour cream.

For Guaca-Salsa you need:
Avocado – 1 small, pitted and flesh roughly chopped
Tomato – 1 small, deseeded and roughly chopped
Red onion – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Jalapeno – 1 small, deseeded and finely chopped
Garlic – 1 clove, finely minced (use garlic press, if you have one)
Lime juice – 1tbsp (or to taste)
Salt & pepper – to taste

• Mix all the ingredients in bowl and mash with the back of a spoon or a fork. Taste and adjust seasonings.

I made these quesadillas with Trader Joes Corn-Chile Tomato-less Salsa and grated sharp & milk cheddar cheese. All I had to do is layer them on corn tortillas and they were just perfect, sweet & tangy from the salsa and oozing cheese. Yumm.