SCRUMPTIOUS Saturdays - cauliflower salad or kale or warm spinach salad

Although this is a repeat, to make this queso, I used a combination of Pace Picante Sauce, and Von's Organic Chipotle Sauce, which--it's horrible to think about--contains some organic cane sugar juice. Why, I couldn't tell you--as chipotle sauce isn't meant to be even a tiny bit sweet. The good news is that cane juice is ingredient number "10" on a 14-ingredient list. Anyways, the chipotle salsa gives the queso extra kick.

Equipment: small ceramic ramekin, microwave, fork

Ingredients: 1/2 cup salsa, 2/3 cup refried beans, 1/2 diced cheese, such as Monterey Jack. Veggies or tortilla chips for dipping in the queso.

Notes: combine ingredients in ramekin, cover with a plate or other ceramic item. Heat on medium (I choose "4") for 4-5 minutes. Remove, stir, continue heating until cheese is melted and all ingredients can be combined. A great addition can be adding diced green onion to the already-heated mixture.

RECIPE #2: Quick Quirky Quesadillas

This is a tasty quasi-Mexican snack that can actually serve as dinner or lunch, if you make enough of them. A great party hors d'oeuvre, too. Low in refined carbs, the beans and cheese offer some protein. Joe V., from Northridge, California, at my New England university, made these often. Thanks, Joe--whereever you are.

Once again: Five steps, five ingredients, less than 25 minutes, less than five bucks.

1. You will need: refried beans, preferably fat-free; Monterey Jack cheese, enough eighth-inch thick slivers as big as the first joint of your thumb for each mini-quesadilla; your choice of salsa; tortilla chips, preferably salt-free and plain.


2. Place foil over a cookie sheet, and spread the chips evenly in rows on the sheet.


3. With a knife, spread a smear of refried bean on each chip. Take a teaspoon or even an iced-tea spoon, which works better, and take just a spoonful, a tiny dollop, of salsa, and place it on top of each bean-smeared chip.


4. Take the knife, and carve off small slivers/chunks of cheese - make sure they are petty flat, so they will sit nicely on top of the salsa-and-cheese mixture on each chip. Place a cheese sliver on each chip.


5. Pop the cookie sheet in the oven for about 7-12 minutes at 325 degrees--or whatever will take the chips to the point where the cheese melts nicely over the top of the salsa-and-bean mixture. Once cheese is melted, remove from oven, place the mini-quesadillas on a plate; they are very small and won't take more than a minute or two to cool down--they are best warm. Eat up!



 


NOTES: You can choose any version of refried beans (i.e. with or without Jalapenos, etc.), any version of salsa, from mild to hot and any type of cheese--although Monterey Jack is traditional, and may work best. If you want to get fancy you can place a tiny dollop of sour cream on top of each of the finished quesadillas. Experiment with different kinds of salsas and cheese to give this your own signature. These are very filling.