Cheesy Veggie Quesadillas - as easy as a child's play

All through the year, kids look forward to their summer vacation. When it comes, they become so happy that they become hyper active and tend to go out of bounds. As a working mom, my job to keep them engaged with studies, activities & games, is getting tougher day by day.

My elder daughter Kuhu, who is normally a well-behaved 8 year old, keeps on jumping on her toes during these days, as if her feet are tied on spring boards. One of her new found passion this vacation has been spending time in kitchen with me. She would watch me intently and try to help me by running errands.

The other day, she came running to me saying that she had just watched a cookery program in TV where they showed how to cook Quesadillas. She was very excited and almost forced me to agree to her demand that we would prepare Quesadillas at home and …………….………she would help me in cooking actively.

Well, it turned out to be a really enjoyable experience. Except for cutting and frying, she did all the hard work including kneading dough, cutting in shapes, making the parcels and sealing them at the ends. The Quesadillas were fabulous and both my daughters enjoyed eating them as evening snacks.

Ingredients

Onion (finely chopped) – 1 no

Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 no

Capsicum (finely diced) – 1 no

Corn kernel (boiled) – ½ cup

Green chili (chopped) – 1 no

All purpose flour – 1 ½  cup

Shredded mozzarella cheese – 1 cup

Coriander leaves (chopped) – 1 sprig

Crushed black pepper – ½ tsp

Cooking oil – 2 Tbsp

Salt – as per taste

Method

Wash vegetables separately and keep them in a strainer so that water drains off completely.

Mix together Flour, salt and 1 tbsp of oil in a large bowl. Add water slowly, mixing with hand to make a soft dough. 

Knead a few minutes on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Lubricate top with oil, put back in bowl and let it rest, covered for 10 minutes.

Spread the dough on a floured surface and roll it out into a big size and thickness you prefer. Take a cookie cutter or a stainless steel bowl with sharp edges and cut out small tortillas out of it (as shown in the photo).

Take one tortilla and spread 1 tsp shredded cheese on it and then add chopped onion, tomato, coriander leaves and diced capsicum on top of that and finally, sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Take another tortilla. Wet the edges with water and cover the tortilla with vegetable with it. Seal the edges by pressing with a fork. Repeat the process with some more tortillas. Your Quesadillas are ready to fry.

Heat oil in a pan with around ½ inch depth.  Fry the Quesadillas, turning over occasionally, until they turn golden yellow. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towel to drain off extra oil.

To make Salsa, take the left over chopped onion, tomato & coriander leaves in a mixing bowl and add one chopped green chili. Add little bit chilli sauce (I didn’t add much as I was making them for my kids), tomato ketchup and sprinkle a little pepper powder and salt to taste. Mix it well. You can make this beforehand and refrigerate for an hour.

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Enjoy your evening with smoking hot Quesadilla served with Salsa.