Cilantro & Jalapeno Pesto Chicken Quesadillas

Why hello, Beyond Meat. Nice to see you again.

It’s no secret I’m not one for faux meat products, but hey, girl’s gotta treat herself to a night of guilty pleasures once in awhile. And Beyond Meat is definitely a rare treat for me.

We had a nice little day date yesterday. We started off going to see Blackfish, which is absolutely incredible. If you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading this post and go see it now!

Really, go! And come back and make these quesadillas when you return…

…are you back? OK, on with the recipe.

As with most of my Mexican inspired dishes, ingredient measurements don’t need to be perfect. Especially with quesadillas. FIll em up as much or as little as you’d like, with practically whatever you want. Just make sure you cook this amazing cilantro pesto. Because it REALLY makes the meal!

4 organic whole wheat tortillas

1/2 package of Beyond Meat Southwest Style Strips

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup raw organic walnuts

1 jalapeno, deseeded and diced

1/4 cup water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

4 heaping tbsp of chipotle hummus

1 cup cooked kidney beans

3/4 cup frozen corn

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1 cayenne pepper, minced

1 tsp paprika

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

• In a blender, grind up walnuts until fine
• Add cilantro, oil, garlic, water and jalapeno and blend until creamy
• Put chicken in a ziploc bag and pour pesto over it, making sure all of it is thoroughly coated
• Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour
• After marinating, cook chicken in a tbsp of oil over medium heat for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently so that they don’t stick to the pan
• After they’ve cooked add a little more oil to the skillet and cook cayenne pepper, red onions and bell pepper for about 4 minutes
• Add corn, beans and paprika and cook for 4 more minutes
• Remove from heat and pour chicken and bean mix together, then add green onions, salt and pepper and stir
• Smear 1 heaping tbsp of hummus on half of each tortilla and then top with 1/4 of chicken/bean mix
• Fold quesadilla over and cook over medium heat in a bit of oil for 5-7 minutes on each side