No cheese Quesadilla | Homemade Tortillas | Vegetarian
Vegetarian Quesadilla is a Mexican dish which is made of tortillas filled with black beans, veggies and cheese and seasoned with your favorite herbs. This is the detailed recipe of making quesadillas which includes three steps: make homemade Flour tortillas, making veggie tofu filling and make a yummy green sauce as a cheese substitute.
How to make tortillas:
Traditionally tortillas are made of all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and lard and the ingredients are mixed together to form a dough using water. The portion of the dough is then rolled out into a thin flat circle and lightly baked on both sides. I have used the combination of wheat flour and All purpose flour for these tortillas. You can use whole wheat flour all together if you wish. I have used olive oil instead of lard.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup All purpose flour
1/2 tsp Baking powder
2 tbsp oil
Salt
Water to knead the dough
Preparation:
- In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt and oil and mix them together.
- Add water little at a time and start kneading until the mixture forms into a smooth dough.
- Once the dough is formed, rest it for 10 mins. Divide the dough into 8-10 equal portions. Roll out each portion into a flat circle.
- Cook the tortilla on each side until light brown spots appear. Stack the tortillas on top of each other until they are ready to use. Stacking makes them softer and they do not dry out quickly.
How to make the filling:
You need these ingredients for the filling. It’s totally up to you what you want to include or exclude in the filling. I have made the bean filling and prepared tofu separately. I have used:
- Corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- Red and green pepper chopped
- Spinach chopped
- Onions chopped
- Tofu (Excess water removed out and cut into cubes or desired shape.
- Avocado slices
- Seasoning and garlic powder
- Nutritional yeast (optional)
- Black beans (Use canned beans or cooked dry beans)
- Chop the veggies. Drain the water from black beans. In a pan, Sauté onions, peppers, corn in it. Add beans, seasoning and nutritional yeast to bring cheesy and nutty flavor to the filling. But this is totally optional. Add spinach and cook until they reduce in volume. Add salt to taste.
- Prepare the Tofu. In a pan, heat some oil, add tofu cubes and fry them until golden brown. Add seasoning and red chili powder until all the pieces are slightly coated. Remove them on a absorbent towel.
- So here is the recap of what is needed for filling.
How to make the sauce/dip/spread:
Whatever you call it, it goes perfectly well with the quesadilla. It’s got the beautiful color green, perfect creamy texture and just a little spice for a kick. I definitely do not miss the cheese.
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 avocados. Keep the remaining half for filling
Few leaves of fresh baby spinach
1 green chili (optional)
salt to taste
a tsp lime juice
1tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water if needed
- Add everything in the blender and blend it into a smooth creamy mixture.
Assembling Quesadillas:
Spread the avocado sauce on the tortilla.
Scoop some filling and spread in on the tortilla. Add some tofu cubes, avocado slices.
Place the loaded tortilla on a greased pan and heat it until it gets crispy on outside. Add another tortilla on the top of it. Apply a little oil on it and then flip it on back to cook on other side. Once both the sides of quesadilla are crisp. Cut them and serve them with more sauce.
Notes:
- These quesadillas are very healthy as they are not loaded with cheese. You can totally make them with Whole wheat flour to make it nutritious.
- A sprinkle of nutritional yeast on the filling makes it taste like cheese. Feel free to add it.
- Flipping the quesadilla while roasting it on a pan can be a bit tricky, as the filling may fall apart while doing so. Use a wide spatula/plate and your hand to flip it quickly.
Comments