Delicious looking with oozy cheesy sauce and guacamole, these quesadillas are a bit of a marathon to prepare but worth the effort to heat, stir and mash. I find food prep relaxing no matter the time it takes, and feel rewarded when my family smiles at the huge plate of quesadillas for dinner.

The cheesy sauce will be stretchy if you use full cream coconut milk. Add your favourite vegetables to the bean mix, the list isn’t cast in stone.

Health benefits:

·       For starters, sweet corn is loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, two phytochemicals that promote healthy vision. Besides helping with weight loss, the insoluble fiber in corn feeds good bacteria in your gut, which aids in digestion and helps keep you regular.

CHEESY QUESADILLAS & GUACAMOLE

PB, V, DF, GF

Bean mix:

1 tbsp (15 g) coconut aminos/ tamari

1 sml red onion, finely diced

1 garlic cloves, finely diced

½ red capsicum, finely diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 sweet corn cob or 1 cup corn kernels

spice mix: ½ tsp (1.5 g) cumin, ½ tsp (1.5 g) garlic powder, ½ tsp (1.5 g) onion powder

Cheesy sauce:

400 ml. organic coconut milk, full fat

¼ cup (40 g) raw cashews

¼ cup (15 g) nutritional yeast

4 tbsp (30 g) tapioca flour

pinch of sea salt

¼ tsp (1 g) onion powder

¼ tsp (1 g) garlic powder

Guacamole:

2 avocados

1 lime, juiced

pinch of sea salt

tortillas to serve

For the bean mix, preheat the fry pan, reduce to medium heat and add the coconut oil, stir in the coconut aminos/tamari and sauté the onions until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, capsicum, mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add corn, black beans and spice mix and heat through for about 3 minutes. Turn off the flame and add a lid to keep the bean mixture hot and it will continue to cook in its own heat.

To make the cheesy sauce, add all the ingredients to the blender and blitz until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer stirring constantly until the sauce is stretchy.

Mash the avocados in a bowl, add the lime juice and sea salt to taste.

Assemble the quesadillas by heating a tortilla in a frypan, placing on a plate and adding layers of bean mix, guacamole and cheesy sauce, top with a heated tortilla and maybe toast in a sandwich press. Cut in half and serve with chopped coriander.