Cinco de Mayo is Wednesday so I’m warming up my palate for a few days of yummy, yet easy, Mexican/Southwest “inspired” meals.

Tortillas are the canvas one uses to make burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas, flautas, quesadillas, tapa, flauta and tacos. Tonight I’m making easy quesadillas, which I loosely interpret to mean flour tortillas filled with cheese, a few more tidbits according to whim, folded then fried until crispy.

I’ve always loved the flavors of goat cheese and roasted peppers together and thought they would be good in tonight’s quesadilla. Chicken, beans, hot peppers, artichoke hearts, eggplant, tomato and pumpkins seeds would all be great substitutes for the red pepper and spinach, as well.

Check out my recipe for Goat Cheese & Mango Quesadilla for another savory option.

Yield: 4 quesadillas
Time: 20 minutes
Cost: apx. $8.50

Ingredients

6 ounces semisoft goat cheese
4,  8-inch flour tortillas, whole wheat or white
2 cups (packed) baby spinach
2 roasted red pepper, stem, membranes and seeds removed and cut in half*
2 teaspoons canola oil

*Peppers are easy to roast, as you can observe on this video, but you can also purchase them roasted and bottled at most local grocery stores.

Directions

1. Trim pepper halves to lie flat. Spread 1/4 goat cheese on each tortilla and top with red pepper half and spinach. Fold each tortilla in half.
2. Coat a large frying pan or griddle with canola or vegetable oil; heat oil to medium heat. Fry tortillas, in batches, pressing lightly with a spatula. When one side is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes, carefully turn over with a spatula or tongs and cook other side until golden brown. Serve whole or cut into wedges (see photo).