Vegan Black Bean Quesadillas and Kale Chips

Yesterday, I cooked up a large batch of black beans to use for this week's meals.  Tonight, I used some in my vegan quesadillas.

To make the filling, I cut 1/2 a red onion and one yellow pepper into strips.  I sauteed them on high heat until they were soft and slightly browned, a little over five minutes.  I then stirred in the black beans and some minced garlic, and generously seasoned the mix with cumin, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro.  Once the mix was heated through, I removed it from the heat and stirred in a few handfuls of baby spinach.

To cook the quesadillas, I used my griddler.  The griddler is essentially a combination of an electric grill pan and an electric griddle.  Using the panini setting on high gave me grill marks on both sides.  Before I put the top layer of tortilla on, I added cheddar and mozzarella daiya.  I then let the quesadilla cook until brown grill marks appeared on top and the quesadilla was flat.

While the quesadillas were cooking, I made a quick salsa with heirloom grape tomatoes, minced red onion, fresh cilantro and lime juice.

I  also made my own kale chips, using this recipe as a guide for prep and cooking time (300 degrees, 20 minutes).  I decided to amp up the seasoning by adding minced onion instead of salt and pepper.  I think I added a little too much olive oil, but the seasoning mix was spot on.

The quesadillas were very filling.  Granted I overstuffed the second batch, which is what I had for dinner tonight.  I ended up eating three of the four slices.  The first one was a little flatter, and that's likely what I'll eat for lunch tomorrow.