Recipe: Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)

After a few years of being spoiled by mild Winters here (felt more like Spring), Old Man Winter has come back with a vengeance and it is bitterly cold with temperatures below freezing.  Nothing like a bowl of hearty hot soup to warm you up but what to make? If you have been keeping your pantry stocked up with basic items bought on sale such as dried pasta, tomato sauce, canned beans, and chicken broth, you can make this hearty Italian soup called "Pasta e Fagioli". Pronounced "pastah eh fahzeeohl", it has been also popularly called "pasta fazool" by American-Italians.
It started off as a peasant dish in Italy using inexpensive ingredients and what better recipe to make on a shoestring budget?
You can make this strictly vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 2 (15 ounce) cans cannelini or kidney beans (undrained)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups dried pasta (traditionally ditalini is used but you can use elbow shape) 

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the oil.  Saute the herbs and chopped vegetables until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the cans of beans with their liquid (it will help thicken the soup), tomato sauce, broth and water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then stir in the pasta. Lower heat and allow the pasta to cook for about 8 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and remove the herbs before serving.
4. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top (optional).

Recipe: Squid Adobo (Adobong Pusit)

It's the new year and I'm sure we all made the resolution to lose weight by eating less fat and more vegetables (and perhaps seafood!)
Here is a Filipino seafood dish that has very little fat in it and is quick and simple to make.
I first tasted this dish years back when a dear friend made it for me to try in her tiny kitchen in Queens.

I was lucky to receive a pound of fresh squid this year as a Christmas present!

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh squid (cartilage quill and beak removed)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
•  6 whole peppercorns
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 plum tomato sliced thinly
• 1 small onion sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar

 Directions

1. Rinse and clean the squid making sure that the hard quill is removed and the hard beak.
2. Put the squid, water, vinegar, and peppercorns into a large saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for about a minute.
3. Remove squid and cooking liquid to a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. Rinse out saute pan and put back on the heat. Allow pan to get hot (you'll notice the pan start to get dry)
5. Add the oil and saute the onion, tomato, and garlic until it is all soft.
6. Add the squid back to the pan and saute together with the vegetables for a minute then add the reserved cooking liquid, soy sauce, and sugar.
7. Stir until everything is all combined.
8. Remove from heat and serve with white rice.

Recipe: Mashed Potato Gnocchi

Thanksgiving has come and gone and you're stuck with leftover mashed potatoes.
What to do?
You can make gnocchi with them! Gnocchi are Italian soft dumplings that are gently poached until they rise to the water's surface, then drained and served with a sauce.
Depending on how "wet" your mashed potatoes are, you may have to add a few more tablespoons of flour until the dough is dry enough to handle without sticking to your fingers. Recipe makes 8 servings or 4 hearty dinner portions.


Ingredients

• 4 cups mashed potatoes
• 1 whole egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes and egg until well combined.
2. Add the flour and mix well until the dough is workable. If the dough is still a bit wet and sticky, add tablespoons of flour until the dough is dry enough for you to handle.
3. Turn the dough out on to a clean work surface and using a knife, cut the dough into 4 even pieces.
4. Roll a piece of dough into a long 1/2" thick rope and with a knife, cut into 1" pieces.
5. Set a side on a plate.
6. Do the same with each remaining piece of dough.
7. Once all the gnocchi are made, drop them gently into a pot of simmering salted water. When they rise to the surface, they are done (about 3 minutes).
8. In the meantime, prepare in a saute pan, the sauce that you will serve the gnocchi with (tomato, pesto, or sage butter)
9. Gently lift the cooked gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon and toss with your favorite sauce.
10. Serve.

You can also freeze the uncooked gnocchi separated on a cookie sheet and then transfer them into a storage bag and keep in the freezer.

Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken

Here is a recipe that makes wonderful use of soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake (or cooking wine) that you should have on the Asian side of your pantry.

Dark meat chicken is usually used to make this as the meat is more tender than white meat. Besides, chicken thighs and legs usually cost less than breast meat so this is a dish that everyone can afford to make.

Mirin is a sweet sake seasoning used quite often in Japanese cuisine.

Teriyaki is usually broiled or grilled and the sauce is constantly brushed on the meat as it cooks but with this recipe you do it on the stove, thickening the sauce as the chicken cooks. Definitely a one pan dish!

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken thighs (you can debone them now or later)
• 2 tablespoons sake (you can substitute Chinese Shao Hsing wine or Dry Sherry)
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons mirin (this gives that shiny luster of teriyaki)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (grate using the small, not fine teeth of a box grater)

Directions

1. Place the chicken thighs in a plastic zip lock bag.
2. Mix the teriyaki ingredients well in a bowl and then add to the chicken.
3. Seal the plastic bag and allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.. The longer it marinates, the more flavor it absorbs.
4. In a large skillet heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil.
5. Take the chicken pieces out of the bag and reserve the marinade.
6. Cook the chicken pieces skin side down over medium heat until browned then turn the chicken pieces over and brown the other side over low heat.
7. Add the teriyaki marinade to the chicken in the pan and cover.
8. Steam cook the chicken until done.
9. Remove the lid and continue to simmer the sauce until thick.
10. Turn off heat and remove chicken.
11. Remove the bone and slice the chicken into strips.
12. Pour thickened teriyaki sauce over the chicken.

Recipe: Wheat Berry Salad with Cucumber, Peas, and Mint

I bought a bag of wheat berries in a Chinatown supermarket for $1 a while ago and have been wondering what to do with it for quite some time.

Cucumbers are on sale this time of year and I bought 3 for $1 along with a box of frozen peas for 99¢. With my mint growing profusely in the herb garden, I decided to put the ingredients all together and invented this light Summer salad. Peas, cucumber, and mint seem to go together quite nicely.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup wheat berries
• 1 large cucumber (diced) if it has a waxy coating, peel it first!
• 10 oz. box of frozen peas (thawed)
• 1/4 cup fresh mint (chopped)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Rinse the wheat berries and put into a pot with enough water to cover by 2 inches.
2. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for an hour.
3. Drain the wheat berries and allow to cool.
4. All all ingredients into a large bowl and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve.

Recipe: 7 Bean and Barley Soup

Here in the big city we have Whole Foods that are starting to spring up around town to give competition to the other large supermarket chains already established here.

I recently visited one and liked how they sell their dried grains and beans in bulk which often times is cheaper than pre-packaged name brands. There is a scale in the department so you can weigh and print out the price tag for your purchase. I bought their 7 Bean and Barley mix for $2.69/lb.

The soup mix bin has a miniscule little blip of a recipe stating that you need 1 chopped onion, 1 pound of soup mix, and 8 cups of water but that sounded too bland. Searching the internet came up with a couple of recipes but they utilized bacon, smoked ham hock, or smoked turkey and I wanted to make it simple, healthier (after all it's a bean soup) and not needing expensive ingredients.

That being said, I created this simple, economically friendly recipe.

You can also use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock if you wish to make it purely vegetarian.

Makes about 4 hearty servings.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 7 Bean and Barley soup mix
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 tablespoons oil (corn, canola, olive oil... it's your choice)
• 2 cans low sodium chicken stock (14.5 oz cans)
• water (2 cans worth)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the bean mix and soak in a large bowl of water for 8 hours or overnight to plump the dried beans back up again.
2. Drain the bean mix and set aside.
3. In a large 4 quart pot, saute the garlic and onion in the oil for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add the drained bean mix
5. Add the 2 cans of chicken stock
6. Add 2 cans worth of water (great way to rinse out the chicken stock cans for recycling!)
7. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
8. Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe: Bang Bang Chicken

This dish is so named because of the sound of banging as you hit the cooked chicken breast into loose meaty threads.

Consider this a Szechuan Chinese version of the American chicken salad. It's a great way to utilize the poached chicken breast from making White Cut Chicken ("Bak Chit Gai") which you can also find on this blog.

The Szechuan pepper lends a lemony flavor and numbing sensation to the dish.

This dish stimulates all the tastes of sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salad:

• 1 large chicken breast (cooked)
• 1 large cucumber (or you can substitute 1 head of romaine lettuce sliced thinly)
• 1 large carrot julienned (cut into match stick sized pieces)
• 3 scallions cut into 2" pieces and then thinly sliced lengthwise (so it looks like grass)

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoons tahini sesame paste (you can also use smooth peanut butter)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Kikoman)
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil (I like Kadoya brand)
• 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar (you can substitute Balsamic)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground Szechuan Pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Chili flakes (optional)
• 4 tablespoons water

Directions

1. With the back of a chef's knife, bang the chicken (skin side up) until the chicken starts to flatten and loosen into fibers. You can then pull the chicken meat into bite sized pieces.
2. If using cucumber, cut in hald lengthwise, scoop out seeds with a spoon, and slice thinly.
3. Put all the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl combine all the dressing ingredients and mix well. The sauce will look like it's breaking but keep stirring until it is all smooth.
5. Toss with the salad ingredients and serve.

Recipe: Arroz Caldo : Filipino Chicken Rice Soup

I made White Cut Chicken (Bak Chit Gai) the night before (recipe here) and have this lovely chicken stock left over. It's quite chilly and sleeting outside and I started craving Arroz Caldo, a thick Filipino rice soup that is inspired by the Chinese rice congee. Arroz Caldo means "Hot Rice" in Spanish and was probably given that name by the Spanish settlers in the Philippines when they discovered Chinese congee.

Since the stock is already flavored with ginger and garlic, I found it perfect for this comforting dish. I used some left-over cooked chicken to make this and sped up the process.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 inch piece of ginger (thinly sliced)
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 cup rice (either sweet rice or long grain or a combo of each)
• 1 pound boneless chicken meat (chopped: your choice of chicken breast or thigh)
• 6 cups water or chicken stock
• 2 tbs fish sauce (you can use salt or chicken bouillon if you don't have)
• 2 scallions (white and green part finely sliced for garnish)

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, heat oil and cook the onion, garlic, and ginger for a minute until fragrant.
2. Add fish sauce and the chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice and stir until coated with the flavored oil.
4. Add the water or stock and cover.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
6. When done, turn off heat. You may need to add a little water to adjust thickness to your preference.
7. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced scallions.

Recipe: Orange Fennel Salad

Did I mention I have a window garden?

It's mild here on the East Coast even now and I grew arugula from seed over the Summer (grows quite fast) and have a window box specifically for herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme).

Gardening is quite relaxing and tending to one in Manhattan can really take the stress out of you.

Fennel was on sale for 99¢ a piece at Shoprite and oranges also on sale so I thought to buy them to make a salad. What a surprise when I found out that arugula was needed for most of these recipes and I didn't buy any. Luckily all I had to do was turn to my window...

Made this today for lunch. Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods.

Serves 4

Colorful and crunchy, the sweetness of the oranges in this salad is a tasty contrast to the sharp clean flavor of fennel. Save any juice that accumulates when you slice the oranges and use it when making the dressing, if you like.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups packed baby arugula

1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

3 large navel oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Method

In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to make a dressing. Divide arugula among 4 salad plates. Toss fennel with orange slices and red onions, then arrange on top of arugula. Drizzle with dressing and garnish with almonds.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 9oz/258g-wt.): 260 calories (160 from fat), 18g total fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 320mg sodium, 25g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 15g sugar), 4g protein

What's for dinner?

I know, I know... It's been a while since I blogged... Please forgive me.

So hopefully you've been using your computer to peruse the supermarket circulars of ALL the supermarkets in your neighborhood, looking online for printable manufacturer's coupons and making a shopping list of items that are on sale. If you have a membership or know of a friend who belongs to Costco you've been buying bulk and splitting the cost. Your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer are well stocked with your sale purchases.

Now what?

If you are tired of your favorite recipes (sometimes it happens) just use the search engine on your computer or websites like Food Network, Gourmet, Epicurious, All Recipes, etc... and enter in a vegetable, protein, and/or starch that you have and a few recipes will show up. Pick one that interests you and your taste buds. If you have basic cooking skills this shouldn't be so daunting to take on a new recipe. Just make sure that you follow instructions or videos provided. Don't be afraid to experiment. You might find a new favorite.

Tip: I keep my flour and sugar in airtight zip lock bags to maintain freshness and keep little buggers from getting into them. Fresh vegetables and fruits should not be left sitting in the refrigerator in the plastic bags that you put them in when you bought them at the supermarket. Moisture gets trapped in there and they could spoil faster. Put them into the crisper or drawer marked for them or in an airy plastic basket lined with paper toweling.

Recipe: Salmon Head Soup or Fish Head Soup

When people buy fish, they tend to cut off and discard the fish head and tail not knowing what to do with them and not considering them edible. Fish connoisseurs know that the fish's cheek meat is like the "oyster meat" on a chicken/turkey/duck... succulent and delicious.

Fish heads are inexpensive and you can get them at your fish monger or in Chinatown.
In Asia, nothing is wasted especially food and thus fish head soup is so popular in that region of the world.
High in gelatin, vitamins, minerals, and omega 3... this soup is great to strengthen bones, nails, and hair (and that's what Mom says too)!

Ingredients

• 3-4 salmon heads
• water
• 3" piece of fresh ginger sliced into planks
• 3-4 cloves of garlic (smashed)
• 3 green onions/scallions (roots removed and cut into 3" lengths)
• salt

Directions

1. Rinse the fish heads with water to remove blood and remove the gills with scissors (the gills will make the soup cloudy and bitter).
2. Place heads into a large pot and cover with water.
3. Add the slices of ginger and garlic and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Do not allow the soup to boil or the heads will disintegrate into the soup!
4. After 30 minutes, carefully remove the fish heads with spoons and set aside on a plate to cool so that you can handle them. Strain the soup to remove any errant bones.
5. Remove and reserve fish meat from the cheeks and about the neck, collar, and head of the fish. I find that a fork makes this easy work.
6. Discard bones, skull, fins, and any other hard cartilage (or you can bury them in the garden to enrich the soil -perfect for roses).
7. Bring soup back to a simmer and add green onions and fish meat. Add salt to taste. Allow to simmer for about 3-5 minutes more or until onions have wilted.
8. Serve.

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine/ Quiche Alsatian

Bacon and eggs seem like the typical American breakfast. It can become mundane if you have it all the time so if you feel a little adventurous, you can take those ingredients and turn them into a classic French dish!
Quiche Lorraine is actually name for the Lorraine region in France (not for someone named Lorraine). The quiche itself was created around the 16th century. If you add onions to the quiche, it becomes Quiche Alsatian. The addition of onions is nice to get some vegetables into your diet otherwise...LOL!




Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon sliced into small strips crosswise the length
  
• 2 medium onions sliced thinly (if you want to make it Alsatian)
  
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups half & half
• 4 ounces Swiss cheese shredded
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• salt & pepper
  

Directions

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onions into the pan with the bacon fat until onions are tender (about 6 minutes). Spread onions and bacon evenly on the bottom of the crust.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, nutmeg, salt & pepper.

3. Pour into the frozen pie crust just to the top (you might have some quiche mixture left over which you can make into an omelet to preview the taste). Top with the shredded Swiss cheese.

4. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30- 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this at room temperature.

I like to serve this with a small salad for lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6-8 people.

Recipe: Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

I like to use deep dish frozen pie crusts when baking quiches. I can be sure that I won't have overflow or spillage when baking them. Since the custard base for the quiche is practically enough for two quiches, I make this one with the spinach feta, putting the vegetables in the crusts and then pouring the quiche custard over portioning it for both pie crusts.



Ingredients

• 1 10 ounce package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups half & half
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese shredded (use can use packaged shredded cheese if you wish)
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust
  

Directions

1. Saute broccoli and onion in a pan with the butter until onions are tender. Set a side to cool.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, salt & pepper.

3. Place vegetables on the bottom of the crust. Pour into the frozen pie crust just to the top ( you might have some quiche mixture left over which you can make into an omelet to preview the taste). Top with the shredded cheddar cheese.

4. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30- 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this at room temperature.

I like to serve this with a small salad for lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6-8 people.

Recipe: Chicken Tostada

Cinco de Mayo has passed but you still have limes, salsa, refried beans, flour tortillas and sour cream in the refrigerator. What to do?

Here's a simple recipe for Chicken Tostadas that I learned when I first moved into the big city.
A grill pan would be handy to grill the chicken (or you can use a George Forman Grill) but a skillet will do just nicely.


Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
2 flour tortillas
1 can refried beans

For Marinade:
Juice of two limes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
pinch of chili powder

For Dressing:
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Whisk together marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
   
2. In a smaller bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients.
   
3. Between 2 pieces of wax paper, pound the chicken breasts thin and marinate for 15 minutes in the marinade.
   
4. Lightly fry the flour tortillas in a little oil and drain on paper towels.
   
5. Heat up the beans as per direction on can.
   
6. Remoce chicken from marinade. Grill chicken breasts until done and slice in to strips.
   
7. Serve the chicken on a bed of refried beans on the tortilla. Top with a little of the dressing. Serves 2.

Recipe: Easy Butternut Squash Soup

Birds Eye frozen vegetables are on sale this week at $1 a box.
I noticed as well that College Inn canned broths are 99 cents each.
With this in mind, I thought, this would be great to takes these two sale items and put them together to make a butternut squash soup without the hassle of roasting a squash in the oven and all the time and work to prepare this soup from scratch (besides, winter squash is not always available all year!)
For about $4, you have soup for 4 people!


Ingredients

• 2 boxes Birds Eye® Cooked Winter Squash (12 oz)
• 2 cups chicken broth

Cooking Instructions

Combine squash and broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until heated through, about 10-15 minutes. Season with ground white pepper if desired.

*If you would like to turn this into a cream of butternut soup, just stir in a 1/2 cup of cream, half & half, or milk before serving.

Garnish with toasted pine nuts for crunchy texture and/or chopped chives for color.

Recipe: Spinach Feta Quiche

Frozen pie crusts are usually sold in bags containing 2-3 crusts so if you have one left over from making the Shepherd's Pie, you can make this simple Greek inspired quiche! My recipe uses half & half in place of the standard milk and cream but the results are the same. I always keep boxes of frozen vegetables in my freezer to make this when frozen pie crusts are on sale.

Ingredients

• 1 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups half & half
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried. You can also substitute with dried oregano)
• 4 ounces feta cheese crumbled
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust (I like Oronoque Brand it's made by Mrs. Smith's Bakeries)

Directions

1. Drain the thawed frozen spinach and squeeze out as much moisture you can (you don't want a watery quiche). Set aside in a small bowl.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, salt (feta has salt in it as well so you must taste the cheese to see how much salt you should add), pepper, lemon juice, parsley, and nutmeg.

3. Stir in the spinach and feta cheese. Pour into the frozen pie crust just to the top ( you might have some quiche mixture left over which you can make into an omelet to preview the taste).

4. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30- 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this at room temperature.

I like to serve this with a small salad for lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6-8 people. Opa!!!!

Recipe: Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

Use a light hand when seasoning with kosher salt, as the cheese itself is rather salty. Cooling the quesadillas before cutting and serving is important; straight from the skillet, the cheese is molten and will ooze out. Serve the quesadillas with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. Finished quesadillas can be held on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven for up to 20 minutes.

Makes 2 folded 8-inch Quesadillas

1/3	cup frozen corn kernels , thawed
2	teaspoons vegetable oil , plus more for brushing tortillas
1/3	cup minced red onion
1	teaspoon minced garlic
1/2	teaspoon chili powder
1/3	cup black beans (canned)
2	teaspoons lime juice
	kosher salt
2	plain flour tortillas , eight-inch
2/3	cup Pepper Jack cheese (3 ounces)
1	tablespoon minced pickled jalapeños (optional)

1. Heat 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until kernels begin to brown and pop, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer corn to medium bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering; add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes; stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Return corn to skillet and toss to combine; gently press mixture with spatula to lightly crush black beans. Transfer mixture to now-empty bowl, stir in lime juice, and season to taste with salt.

2. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and return pan to medium heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Place 1 tortilla in skillet and toast until soft and puffed slightly at edges, about 2 minutes. Flip tortilla and toast until puffed and slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Slip tortilla onto cutting board. Repeat to toast second tortilla while assembling first quesadilla. Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese, half the corn and bean mixture, and half of jalapeños, if using, over half of tortilla, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge. Fold tortilla in half and press to flatten. Brush surface generously with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside. Repeat to form second quesadilla.

3. Place both quesadillas in skillet, oiled sides down; cook over medium heat until crisp and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Brush surfaces with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Flip quesadillas and cook until second sides are crisp and browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer quesadillas to cutting board; cool about 3 minutes, halve each quesadilla, and serve.

(I serve these with a dollop of sour cream and a side salad for a nice lunch or light supper.)