July Food Challenge: Black Bean Quesadillas with Raspberry and Fig Salsa

It's that time again! Unfortunately, I was swamped with work during the last two food challenge months so I'm really excited to share my recipe for July. The food draw landed us with a slightly strange mix of ingredients with black beans, raspberries and figs so I started thinking about how I could incorporate them while keeping things appetizing. I love black beans because they're so filling and versatile so in the long run, I'm glad they were in the mix. I definitely wanted to do something savory because I thought it would be easier to bring the raspberries and figs over to the savory side than it would be to make black beans sweet.

Beautiful Raspberries! 

Dried Figs

This recipe is based on my favorite quesadilla recipe from Economy Gastronomy - a television show from a few years ago that seriously needs to be revived. It was a brilliant show that demonstrated how to get the most out of you groceries and therefore how to save money on your weekly shop. THis included things like roasting a leg of lamb and using the leftovers for shepherds pie or using a quick saute of minced beef to make tacos, lasagna and chili. Obviously, as a poor grad student, I loved this show!

Onions and Chili

Bean Layer

Ready to crisp!

Anyway, I've added to the basic premise of the show's quesadillas and simply adapted my usual, go-to pico di gallo recipe to include the fruit. I also served these quesadillas with a simple guacamole and some sour cream. Delicious!This was a super quick recipe and actually surprisingly tasty! Give it a go if you're feeling adventurous...

Crispy!

Ready to eat! Quesadillas, guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Yum!

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

2 cans of black beans in water, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, chopped finely and divided
1-2 green onions, chopped finely
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green chili, deseeded and chopped finely
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped and divided
1 tbsp chives, chopped
200g cheddar, divided
8 flour tortillas
5 tomatoes, chopped
1-2 limes, juiced
1-2 tbsp jalopenos, chopped
4 dried figs, chopped finely
150g raspberries, chopped

Method: 

To make the salsa: Mix the tomatoes, 1/2 of the red onion, lime juice, jalopenos, figs, raspberries and 1-2 tbsp of the coriander in a bowl and set in the fridge to let the flavors mix. Add salt to taste.

For the quesadillas: Saute the other half of the red onion, green chili and the green onions in a splash of oil over medium heat. Add in the red pepper and continue to saute over medium-low heat until the ingredients are fragrant. Add the black beans and saute until they have warmed through and softened slightly before adding the rest of the coriander and the chives. Stir thoroughly and use a masher or the back of your spoon to mash the beans so that half of them are mashed and the other half are still solid. Finally, add in 3/4 of the cheese and mix until melted. Spoon a few tablespoons of the bean mixture on to a flour tortilla and spread out in an even layer (about a cm thick) across the tortilla, leaving a small border around the outside. Sprinkle with a little of the remaining cheese, top with a second tortilla and paint with a little oil before popping into a pan over medium heat. Allow the first side to crisp while painting the second side before flipping. This stage will only take a few minutes so keep an eye on them! Also, while waiting for each side to crisp, press lightly on the tortilla to encourage the two sides to stick to the filling. When both sides are ready, remove from the heat and allow to sit for a few seconds before slicing. Enjoy!

Overnight Oats: Chocolate Raspberry

This dish is literally a revelation. I'm not known as much of a breakfast person and therefore, as you may have noticed, the majority of the recipes on this blog fall into the lunch or dinner categories. I'm just not very hungry first thing in the morning so the thought of putting in the effort to make something just isn't very appealing. However, there are some days when external forces conspire to create a busy day where there just isn't time for a snack until well into the afternoon and therefore a good breakfast is essential. Enter overnight oats. The combinations for this dish are endless and I'll definitely be posting more options as I go along. It takes about five minutes to mix the ingredients together and pop them in the container the night before and then when you wake up... they're ready! While this is a chilled breakfast and therefore ideal for summer, I thought they were equally good now when the weather is freezing since they're nice and filling. Served along side a cup of coffee or tea, you really don't even notice that it's a chilled dish.

Ingredients

Raspberry puree 

I first tried this recipe with just yogurt since I didn't have any almond milk on hand. You can of course substitute regular milk or soy milk if you prefer but I didn't have any of those on hand either. The result was a little too stodgy for my liking so I definitely recommend using both milk and yogurt. Also, I pureed the frozen raspberries but you could also toss them in whole if you wanted (probably best to defrost them first thought). I went ahead and pureed the whole package (350g) because I didn't want to have to do it every day for each serving. I just popped it in a spare jar and then left it in the fridge. I didn't bother sieving the seeds out but if you think they will annoy you then definitely go for it since they are noticeable in the final dish. FInally, I served this in a glass mason jar because I found that it was the most reliable when it came to avoiding leakage when I throw it in my bag for breakfast on the go but I'm sure a small tupperware would be fine as well.

Finished product

Cook Time: N/A
Prep Time: 5 min
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of rolled oats or porridge oats
1/3 cup almond milk (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 tbsp raspberry puree
1 tbsp honey
Handful fresh raspberries
4 squares dark chocolate, chopped

Mix the oats, almond milk and yogurt in a small bowl until completely combined. Next stir in the raspberry puree, honey and the dark chocolate. Carefully spoon mixture in the serving jar or tupperware and top with fresh raspberries. Place in the fridge for a minimum of three hours or overnight. Enjoy!