Taking quesadillas to the next level

In the beginning, there was grilled cheese, and it was good. How could it not be - creamy melted cheese, bread crisped in butter? And then, of course, came the panini, once a simple Italian snack-bar staple, turned seemingly ubiquitous. Now it looks like it may be the quesadilla's turn. And, really, the only thing to be said is: It's about time.

Granted, making quesadillas is not going to earn you a reputation among your friends as the next Top Chef. Not unless it's at the end of a long day of work and they're hungry. At times like that, a well-prepared quesadilla, made from a good corn tortilla and stuffed with something like mushrooms and goat cheese, or braised greens and feta, is pretty darn delicious.

And hey, quesadilla queen Nina Garcia won the Vendy award a few weeks ago, beating half a dozen other street-food vendors, including, among others, someone serving an apple-and-Brie grilled cheese.

Still, I can already hear some of you muttering to yourselves. Quesadillas do have a reputation as a kind of dumbed-down sandwich - fold a flour tortilla over shredded cheddar, stick on the griddle, and there you go. But that shortcut version is not the best way to make a quesadilla.

True quesadillas are more like cornmeal masa turnovers, or empanadas, most traditionally deep-fried. Fillings go way beyond melted cheese (though probably at least a little bit of that should always be included). They can be as exotic as huitlacoche and cream, or as down-to-earth as leftover stew meat, torn into shreds.

And though I'll happily agree that quesadillas made with fresh masa are dreamy beyond belief, in real life I am quite satisfied to settle for packaged corn tortillas cooked on the griddle. I've had good luck with the ones Trader Joe's calls "handmade." They seem to have a slightly more pliable texture and fresher taste than most others. Of course, if you have a favorite tortilleria in your neighborhood, that should be the first choice.

I've made quesadillas filled with nothing more than fresh requeson, or ricotta, mixed with herbs, and in the summer they're terrific filled with quickly cooked zucchini blossoms. Lately my favorite fillings have been sautéed mushrooms cloaked in fresh goat cheese, and braised cooking greens dotted with feta or queso fresco. I even made the latter with cooked trimmings of bolted lettuce from the garden; it was terrific.

Quesadillas come together in minutes: Prepare the filling, warm the tortillas on one side just long enough to soften them, flip them over and spoon the filling into the center, scatter cheese over the top, fold the tortilla in half around the filling, and cook until the tortilla is lightly browned on both sides.

They're simply terrific. The tortilla toasts just enough to crisp slightly and enrich the corn flavor; the filling gilds basic ingredients with the irresistible allure of melted cheese. Serve it with a salad and you've got a great dinner.

Given the right mix of leftovers for the filling, you can go from zero to a really delicious dinner in 15 minutes. Starting from scratch with the filling might take as long as 30 minutes, and I can still finish in less than an hour even with a grocery stop.

Indeed, while chowing down on a quesadilla the other night, I couldn't help but think about the incident last month when cookbook author Michael Ruhlman, a friend, created such a stir by (to paraphrase) calling nonsense the notion that people were too busy to cook, and by calling out some recipe writers who push quick-and-easy shortcuts to home cooking.

In one way, he was right, of course. Cooking dinner doesn't need to be a project, and there are plenty of things you can feed your family that don't involve picking up packaged food and reheating it.

But in offering a solution, Ruhlman revealed a tone-deafness to the way many of us are having to live today. In its own way, his recommending roast chicken as the perfect weekday dinner alternative to, say, popping a Lean Cuisine in the microwave, is just as wrongheaded as pointing to the drive-up window.

It's not that I have anything against roast chicken. It's one of my favorite Sunday dinners and it's a dish that should be in the repertoire of every cook. There is no meal that offers as high a pleasure-to-effort ratio. But proposing it as a weekday after-work dinner is just crazy.

The real problem goes deeper than a simple roast chicken, though. It's that old black-or-white, all-or-nothing attitude that either you are doing things exactly the right way, or you might as well be eating fast food.

There were any number of examples of perfectly fine, realistic dishes Ruhlman could have cited that wouldn't have made anyone without two hours to spend getting dinner on the table on a Wednesday night feel like a loser.

He could have talked about an omelet, or pasta with butter and Parmigiano, along with a salad. Maybe even a quick risotto (45 minutes start to finish, including bringing the broth to a simmer).

And, of course, now that all the cool kids are eating them, quesadillas.

Makes 4-6 servingsEndTextStartText

2 tablespoons butter

1 pound sliced or quartered mushrooms

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup minced shallots

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup fresh goat cheese

1/2 pound low-moisture mozzarella, cut in small dice

2 teaspoons oil

12 corn tortillas

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1. Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter has stopped foaming and bubbling, add the mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms have given up their moisture, about five minutes. Sprinkle with shallots and cook until the shallots have softened, the moisture has evaporated, and the mushrooms are quite tender, about five more minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint and the goat cheese.

2. Heat the oil on a griddle over medium heat; use a spatula to distribute it so the surface is evenly covered. If you don't have a large griddle, you can use a skillet, but you'll have to cook the quesadillas in more than one batch. Add the tortillas and cook on one side until they have softened, one to two minutes. Flip them to the other side and spoon three to four tablespoons of the mushroom mixture in the center. Sprinkle over some of the diced mozzarella and use a spatula to fold the tortilla in half around the filling.

3. Cook until the tortilla begins to brown on one side, about two to three minutes, and then flip onto the other side and cook until the tortilla browns on that side and the mozzarella is melted, about two to three minutes more. If some of the melting cheese oozes onto the griddle, that's even better. Repeat if necessary to use up all of the tortillas and filling.

4. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 250-degree oven until all of the quesadillas have been made.

Per serving (based on 6): 312 calories; 15 grams protein; 26 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams fiber; 17 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 44 milligrams cholesterol; 3 grams sugar; 686 milligrams sodium.EndText

Makes 4-6 servings

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Oil

1/3 cup minced onion

1 pound mixed cooking greens, such as kale, mustard, and collard

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup diced feta cheese

1/4 pound low-moisture mozzarella, cut in small dice

12 corn tortillas

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1. Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until it softens and begins to color, three to five minutes.

2. While the onion is cooking, rinse the greens in a colander but don't dry them. When the onion is ready, add the greens, along with any water that clings to the leaves, to the skillet. Season with salt and red pepper, sprinkle with garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until the greens are quite tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the feta.

4. Heat two teaspoons of oil on a griddle over medium heat; use a spatula to distribute it so the surface is evenly covered. If you don't have a large griddle, you can use a skillet, but you'll have to cook the quesadillas in more than one batch. Add the tortillas and cook on one side until they have softened, two to three minutes. Flip them to the other side and spoon two to three tablespoons of the greens in the center. Sprinkle over some of the diced mozzarella and use a spatula to fold the tortilla in half around the filling.

5. Cook until the tortilla begins to brown on one side, two to three minutes, and then flip onto the other side and cook until the tortilla browns on that side and the mozzarella is melted, about two to three minutes more. If some of the melting cheese oozes onto the griddle, that's even better. Repeat if necessary to use up all of the tortillas and filling.

6. Serve immediately, or keep warm in a 250-degree oven until all of the quesadillas have been made.

Per serving (based on 6): 311 calories; 13 grams protein; 32 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 16 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 37 mg. cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 840 mg. sodium.EndText