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Quesadillas Stuffed with Mushrooms, Goat Cheese & Mint

"In the beginning, there was grilled cheese, and it was good. How could it not be — creamy melted cheese, bread crisped in butter? And then, of course, came the panini, once a simple Italian snack bar staple, turned seemingly ubiquitous. Now it looks like it may be the quesadilla's turn. And, really, the only thing to be said is: It's about time."

These are the wry words of Russ Parsons, and they cheerfully greeted my morning tea and me today. CLICK here to read his entire article.

I hadn't really considered that a quasi queso revolution was coming. I should have seen the signs though. Because quesadillas have been in my radar and my repertoire for years. I am glad to hear that they are throwing off the cheddar ties that bind them and finally coming out of the shadows of shame.

I say this because there is a possibility that I may be inadvertently (partially) responsible for the rejuvenation of what Russ Parsons referred to as a "dumbed-down sandwich" this morning. Because I have always known that quesadillas could be creative. I just never knew you needed a recipe, or even a plan!

Still, despite my acquaintance with quesadillas– I have to admit that I have always considered them "desert food". To me they are a lazy, patio friendly way to make the most of Friday & Saturday night leftovers during my weekends in Palm Springs. I have a way with leftovers. I hate wasting food, so Sunday lunches usually fall under my control. Because nobody can clean out a refrigerator like I can. That's how my quesadillas got to be so creative. It wasn't by design so much as necessity. Palm Springs is not the place to leave half-eaten food laying around in 100-degree weather for weeks on end.

My versions are usually gentrified, anglo-ized amalgamations of whatever semi-Mexican flavors happen to be gracing whomever's refrigerator I happen to be raiding. Because I rarely approach the dish with any sort of plan. Cheese is the only constant. 

But Russ Parsons' column this morning got me to re-evaluate my relationship with this cheesy staple. Because honestly I got started serving quesadillas on Sundays mostly as a conduit for the inventive salsas I enjoy making for my beer-swilling, sun-tanning, desert-worshipping friends whose main goal is making sure that Sunday lasts as long as possible. In fact I put most of my energies into the topping for my quesadillas, not the stuffing.

So when I saw this recipe from Russ Parsons this morning I was a little bit shocked. Good shocked– but shocked nonetheless. I had never considered that there was such a thing as a quesadilla recipe! I was so dumbfounded by my dumbness that I decided to take action. I made his Quesadillas Stuffed with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese for lunch today. I followed his recipe, word for word and recreated it here. It was crazy good.

I am not saying that I will quit winging it when it comes to my desert versions, but I can promise you this will indeed make me think more like a cook when I am combining ingredients for another sunny Sunday "dumbed-down sandwich"!

Quesadillas Stuffed with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese serves 6 CLICK here for a printable recipe