I thought about naming this post “Balsamic Glaze with a Side of Quesadillas” because I’m obsessed with balsamic glaze. But—let’s face it—That would have been a tad lengthy for a title. I usually just buy store bought balsamic glaze because it’s so fabulous, but I thought since this is a cooking blog, why not give it a go from scratch?
Turns out it’s just balsamic vinegar with a little sugar for taste cooked down until it gets thick enough to pour (think syrup consistency). But whether you decide to make it from scratch or get the store-bought version, this topping needs to be a must in your house.
You can put it on mostly anything and it will make any average meal a hit. Sometimes I even use it as a salad dressing. But for this post it makes these veggie quesadillas really pop!
For my glaze, I tried it initially with just the balsamic vinegar—turned out veeeeeeery pungent. Next try was with some brown sugar, which worked taste-wise, but didn’t give me the desired consistency I was looking for. After traveling to the grocery store to buy yet another bottle of balsamic vinegar—attempt number 3 was made with a splash of honey. Now, I’m certainly not going to fault anyone for just going and buying the squeeze bottle of balsamic glaze (that’s still a staple in my fridge as well), but for those food adventurers willing to give it a shot, my balsamic glaze recipe follows the quesadilla recipe. Lucky you—a 2fer this week!
Yields: 3 quesadillas
Prep Time: 4 minutes | Cook Time: 16 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For Quesadilla:
1 medium/large onion, cut into thick slices
1 red pepper, cored, then sliced
1 yellow pepper, cored, then sliced
1 tomato, diced
½ avocado, sliced
2 cups spinach
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
balsamic glaze (recipe to follow)
3 tortillas
½ tbsp. olive oil
For Glaze:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
For the Quesadillas:
1. Warm pan and add olive oil.
2. Slice onions and cook over medium heat X ~5 minutes. Add sliced peppers and cook uncovered an additional ~5 minutes, adding spinach just before peppers are done. Cover and cook until spinach has wilted.
3. Remove vegetables from pan and drain any liquid.
4. Spray pan with nonstick spray and place tortilla (without filling) in pan. Cook tortilla on med/high heat X ~2-3 minutes or until it just starts to brown.
5. Add a portion of the shredded cheese to ½ of the tortilla followed by a portion of the vegetable mixture.
6. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, followed by tomatoes and a few slices of avocado. Top with more cheddar cheese.
7. Fold over empty ½ of tortilla, cooking an additional minute until cheese has melted.
8. Flip quesadilla with spatula to brown the other side.
9. Cut into 3 pieces and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
For the glaze:
1. Combine vinegar, sugar, and honey in pot and bring to a boil. When reaches a boil, immediately reduce to a simmer and cook X ~20 minutes stirring occasionally (cooking time will vary depending on the size of the pot used, see below). Glaze should be a little thinner than a syrup consistency.
The Cook’s 2 Cents:
· You might think its intuitive to use a small pot for the glaze because it’s a small amount of liquid, but if you reduce the glaze in a larger pan, it will reduce quicker because there’s more surface area to aid in evaporation. (And if you’re really pressed for time, you can just squeeze it out of the store-bought bottle I know you have in your house.)
· Before flipping the quesadilla, make sure the cheese has melted a bit. This will help the tortilla to stick making the flipping process a little easier.
· When flipping, make sure the spatula is underneath the open side. If you flip from the closed side, you’ll lose all the good stuff!
· If you don’t have nonstick spray, don’t fret. Just leave a thin layer of the leftover oil from the vegetables.
· When reducing the balsamic glaze, be careful not to simmer for too long. The longer it cooks, the more the vinegar taste will come out making it a little bitter. It will firm up a bit the longer it sits off the heat. If you’re worried that it’s still not the desired consistency, you can always put it in the fridge to firm it up more.
Nutrition Facts:
With 1 tbsp glaze drizzled over quesadilla slices
Servings per recipe: 5 Serving size: 2 slices
Calories: 385 Fat: 18g Sodium: 410mg Carbs: 41g Fiber: 6g Sugars: 21g Protein: 15g
