Tomato, Cheesy Salsa Fresco Quesadillas | Guest Post By Nisha

Winter is around the corner and it feels good to have some extended hours of sleep, snuggling tightly . Also some quick and easy cooking as the weather makes you slightly lazy (!?). Today , I'm bringing one such recipe for you .

Well, today , my friend Nisha Pillai  from Mamma's Melting Pot is here to share her yummilicious recipe with you all.The basic connect between us is food and we met through FB on common grounds as she says. Not only her voice, she is also such a sweet person to come across .While food being the common connect , her flavor bursting recipes always amaze me with its own creativity and simple techniques .

Many thanks to you Nisha for taking her time and sharing her recipe with us.

Now let's hear from Nisha.

Hi everyone,
I am honoured to be penning down a guest post for my friend and fellow blogger Sujatha. Sujatha has always been a special friend since the day I met her at our common grounds on Facebook. Her beautiful images, attention to detail and sweet replies to every single comment or query is what makes me look forward to every post of here. Her cooking style has a simplicity and elegance that reminds me of my grandma's home and kitchen.
Vegetarian cooking does not come easy to me as much as I love to binge on it. I was a brand new bride who didn't know anything about cooking when I came to U.S, almost one and a half decade back. So my cooking style has very strong American influences but stronger Indian roots. But living here and raising non veggy loving kids, I have my own creations to sneak enough veggies into their plate and mine.
So for my guest post, I am posting a simple vegetarian snack post. This is very simple and customizable and hope my technique is easy enough to follow.

 Tomato, Cheesy Salsa Fresco Quesadillas (makes 2 quesadillas)

Ingredients:

1 large ripe tomato finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
3-4 finely chopped green chillies
1/2  tbsp juice of lemon
salt and pepper- as needed
4 burrito sized quesadillas
1 cup grated Mexican Cheese blend or 6 slices of American Cheese slices
Oil 4 tspn

Method:-

• In a bowl, mix together the tomatoes and onions and squeeze the lemon juice and salt in it and let it sit for 5 minutes. After 5, drain it in a colander and gently squeeze it to remove any extra moisture, mix in the cilantro and re-season if needed.
• In a large griddle big enough to hold the tortilla flat, heat 1 tsp of oil in medium high heat. Then reduce the heat to 35 percent capacity, put one tortilla on top of the oil and using your palm or a spatula, rotate it so that oil spreads on the entire tortilla. Now spread 1/4 cup of cheese on the tortilla and  sprinkle half the tomato mixture then sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese on top.
• Put the other tortilla on top and gently press on top to get the stuffing inside to settle. 
• Now invert a plate on top of the quesadilla and placing a palm on the top of the plate, flip the pan to dump the quesadilla unspilled onto the plate. Add another tspn oil to the pan and gently slide the quesadilla, tugging lightly on the tortilla at the bottom and sliding it onto the oiled griddle.
• Cook for a minute or until the bottom turns golden and toasted, and the cheese inside melts. 
• Remove the quesadilla onto a cutting board and let it cool down for about 3 minutes.
• Repeat the process with the remaining salsa, cheese and quesadilla.
• Cut the toasted quesadillas using a pizza cutter into 4 quarters and serve hot, with guacamole or sour cream if desired.

Note 

• In case you are using the cheese slices, cut each slice diagonally in half, until you have 12 triangles in all.
• On the tortilla, make a pinwheel pattern with 3 triangles and spread the salsa mix on top. Now, making sure the slices are not on top of each other but rather in alternate positions from the first layer, add 3 more triangles in the pinwheel pattern. This positioning is a little nerdy like me, but ensures the cheese reaches all corners. Now top with another tortilla and follow the recipe in toasting.