Tricks of the Trade: Egg & Veggie Quesadilla Recipe

Meal Monday

The trio is now two years old, and language is starting to take off.

Zeke is the master of "no." Dude is all about "chair," which comes in handy when he wants to do puzzles at his little table or he wants to tell us he's hungry. Bitty is ready for cheerleading camp with her constant "Okay! Okaaaay!"

When it comes to food, however, they have a common vocabulary: "cheese." This is not surprising since it's also one of their fave foods. Given this rare instance of unity, I am now trying to tap into their new vocabularly to talk them into loving some of my healthy meals.

If we say they are having cheese for dinner, the announcement is met with a chorus of "yay!" Doesn't matter if they're having grilled cheese, mac & cheese, or even cheese and crackers. The response is the same.

So the other day, I decided to be a little sneaky. I announced that I would be serving the kids cheese, which was met with squeals of delight. Yes, I made quesadillas. But I made them with a thin layer of egg inside. Zeke, who has always refused eggs, couldn't get enough, and even ate cheesy egg pieces without the tortilla. Bitty, who ate eggs early on then stood in solidarity with her brothers' rejection of them, scarfed the quesadilla down. It was a harder sell with the Dude, who never liked quesadillas, let alone eggs. My little muchacho didn't bite.

Nevertheless, I was emboldened. I took things a step farther. The kids won't eat veggies? No problem. I simply chopped some up and added them to the egg mixture. And I even spread the tortillas with a little bit of refried beans for added protein.

The results were the same with the jacked-up version: Bitty and Zeke feasted while the Dude refused. With two out of three on board, something was working.

Now I just have to figure out how to put one past the Dude.

Egg & Veggie Quesadilla Recipe
Adapted from Weelicious

Ingredients:

1 small carrot
handful of baby spinach leaves
2 large eggs
¼ cup grated cheese, divided
2 Tbsp refried beans, divided
2 Tortillas

Preparation:

Grate the carrot. Wrap the grated carrot in paper towel to absorb some of the moisture. Chop the spinach finely.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the grated carrot and chopped spinach, and mix to combine.

Spread 1 Tbsp of refried beans on each tortilla. Set aside.

Spray a 9-inch pan with cooking spray and place on stove over medium heat. Pour in the egg mixture, tilting the pan to spread the eggs across evenly. Cook for about one minute, using a spatula to gently loosen the edges of the omelet.

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of cheese on top of the eggs. As it begins to melt, place one tortilla on top of the eggs. Cook for 30 seconds. Push down on the tortilla with your spatula, then lift the entire omelet out of the pan, and flip it onto a plate, tortilla side down.

Return to pan, tortilla side down. Sprinkle the egg with the other 2 Tbsp of cheese and as it melts, top with the second tortilla. Cook for one minute, then flip and cook for another minute until the cheese is melted and the tortilla is golden.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes:

You can use any vegetable of your choice in the eggs.

Serve with traditional quesadilla accompaniments, like salsa or guacamole.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Quesadilla Recipe]

Wow what a delicious recipe. Cant wait to taste this. Sounds simple and healthy. Keep sharing more such delicacies. Cheese is one of my fav. This sounds perfect. Nice post.