Smoked Cheddar & Spinach Quesadillas

I’m about to kick this weekend into overdrive! But I won’t leave you with an empty stomach 🙂

A little while back we had what we term a “Grill Week” where almost everything we made for dinner was grilled up by Ktams–I also happened to have a good amount of molé sauce left in the fridge with the chicken we were going to use. I created a marinade for the chicken of a few tablespoons of delicious molé, some chili powder, garlic, and cumin and sent him out to grill. It came back beautifully browned and amazing. If you ever make quesadillas you probably know they can be a bit lacking in flavor sometimes. I worked to fix that by subbing in a rich smoked, sharp cheddar and the mole marinade. It made for some very happy bellies!

How are you enjoying this gorgeous weekend? Perhaps you’re going to the International Beer Festival? Or maybe just enjoying a leisurely weekend in the sun? However you plan it–see if you can squeeze in a batch of these delicious (GLUTEN FREE) quesadillas!

Smoked Cheddar & Spinach Quesadillas

Ingredients

1lb grilled chicken, chopped (I like to use leftovers)
1 white onion, sliced
2c spinach
8oz smoked sharp cheddar, grated
10 corn tortillas
coconut oil or butter for pan
Sour cream (optional)
Hot sauce (optional)

Method

Heat a large pan (medium-high heat)–I prefer to use my huge cast iron for this recipe. Heat the butter or coconut oil until very fluid (butter bubbly), then toast the corn tortillas. For me it’s a bit more painstaking, but I enjoy the result more if I toast the top and bottom of one quesadilla at the same time, then I flip the un-toasted side onto the pan–and here is where we start with toppings. Load on first a little bit of cheese, then onions, spinach, chicken, and top with cheese. Place the hot, now toasted second corn tortilla on top and (if you can) weigh the quesadilla down to encourage it to stay together. I like using a bowl or much smaller cast iron to do the job. If you have a cast iron panini press (WANT) that will work very well. Cook for approximately 3 minutes per side, until cheese is thoroughly melted and spinach looks wilted. Plate, topping with sour cream and hot sauce if desired. Repeat process until everyone around you is full 🙂

Serves 4-5.