(Leftover) Quesadillas

I'm going to do that annoying thing where a story precedes a recipe.


We're quarantined. We have time.

Scout the Dog is on a diet. This happens a few times a year, even when he was getting a mile or two through the fields each day in Colorado. He just tends to hold weight in a weird way. He gets so much human food from Wells...it's adding up.

So we skewered and grilled some NY strip steaks last week. I use this marinade, always, when preparing steak. Right before we put them on the grill, we sprinkled them with some Montreal steak seasoning. They were ah-mazing.

But the dogs also got their own skewer of plain steak tidbits, because they are ridiculously spoiled.

So don't feel too bad for Scout. He's permanently angry at me for "starving" him. And last night he took off across the front yard where Scott was spreading mulch, I grabbed him to haul him back in the house (slippers on and all) and we did the usual dance of him growling and pawing at me and me saying "go ahead, bite me, I dare you. seriously, do it". Scout kept growling and I kept lecturing him saying things like "I rocked you to sleep as a puppy...go ahead, bite me and you'll be in the basement for the night...you don't know how good you have it". (I hope Wells took notes.)

But anyway. Scout knows I love him because I make him steak and salmon quite often. We never grill meat without setting aside some for Scout and Jett.

The point of this recipe is that it's perfect for repurposing leftovers. Which is ideal for being stuck in the house all of the time and relying on what you have in the pantry.

I grilled some peppers and diced up the leftover steak and made quesadillas.

I squirted a bit of lime juice on the top and then served queso on the side. (I have a hoarded supply of queso in the pantry but that's a story for another blog post.)

Are you finding ways to repurpose your leftovers? I see many people talking about oddly enjoying the slower pace of life and this is part of it. I admit that I don't hate this side of quarantining. It's rewarding to become less wasteful. 

Cheesesteak Calzone

Recipe challenge, recipe #51.

I've had this window open on my browser for days. I hate typing up recipes, almost as much as I hate writing them down.  It's so tedious. However, in the spirit of sharing...here's the next to last recipe for this year.

This is perfect New Year's food.

Or football food.

Or a late lunch on a Sunday and, hey, then you don't have to make dinner kind of food. I've discovered if I make lunch at 2pm, I don't have to make dinner.

I wanted to make it months ago and just got around to it recently.

Cheesesteak Calzone
serves 4-6, depending on how big your pizza crust is...the Pillsbury one isn't very big

1 pizza crust (either in the form of a ball of dough or from a Pillsbury can)
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced (or several mini sweet peppers, thinly sliced)
1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced portobello mushrooms
1/2 pound of thinly sliced steak
Slices of Swiss cheese
Mozzarella cheese (sliced, shredded, etc)

In a large pan, with a bit of oil, cook the steak until it's browned (about 10 minutes). Take it out and then put in the onions, peppers, and mushrooms and cook them about 15 minutes, until softened or golden-brown.
Lay out your pizza dough on a pizza stone or cookie sheet and roll it to the size you'd prefer.  If you get the Pillsbury one (and it's delicious), the work is already done for you.
Onto one side of the dough only, layer on the steak, vegetables, and top with slices of Swiss cheese.  I used about 6 and then I sprinkled shredded mozzarella and a bit of a cheddar blend over the top.
Fold over the other side and press with a fork to seal.  Poke a few holes in the top.
Bake at 375 degrees until the whole calzone is golden-brown, about 15-20 minutes.
Serve slices with warmed marinara sauce.


*This picture is not my best effort.  The sun was going down and I just took the picture on the cookie sheet.  I photograph food for blog purposes, yes. But I don't think I could ever really get excited about food photography. 

Fajita Quinoa

Recipe challenge, week twenty-three (which is this week)

In case you're looking for a high-protein, low-carb kinda meal this weekend...I make fajita meat in the crockpot a lot and it's easy to freeze once you cook it too.  This is like a giant Mexican quinoa salad of sorts, but I'd totally put this with tortillas, taco shells or on nachos.  The idea for the recipe came from A Year of Slow-Cooking, but I made them into quesadillas a couple of years ago.

This is a recipe post, but I do have other things to say.

Scott asked me if I wanted to go to a Kenny Chesney concert with a bunch of people he works with later this year.  Apparently it's a tail-gating extravaganza with tickets ranging from $40-$240.

I tried to be diplomatic with the smiley face.  He didn't answer my email, so when we Skyped yesterday, I asked about it.  He said, "Yeah, I figured that was a NO."

All I could think of was this gif.

Okay, maybe it was just the one thing that I needed to get out.

Fajita Quinoa

1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced

1 packet fajita seasoning mix (or 2 T. of homemade fajita/taco seasoning)

¼ water

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced

Cooked quinoa (I use chicken broth instead of water: 1 cup dry quinoa, 2 cups broth, cook it like you would rice)

Guacamole/pico de gallo/cilantro

In a 4-quart crockpot, combine all of the ingredients and stir it around.  Cook on low for 2-4 hours.  It cooks pretty quickly because the meat is already sliced.  Serve with quinoa and your favorite toppings for Mexican food. 

You can easily double this recipe in a 6-quart crockpot and even freeze portions in Ziploc bags.