Crab Quesadillas

I made the best dinner last night I have had in a long time. And I know I wasn't just biased because my husband, who ordinarily HATES my cooking, loved it too. I'm actually not a bad cook - my husband just likes everything very bland and extremely overcooked. That's how he was raised, what can I say?

But these crab quesadillas were to die for. I found a recipe online and made a few tweaks that I thought were sure to please my picky partner and voila! Not only were they decadent and delicious, they were so easy to make too. I wish I had taken a picture of the final product, but they smelled so good I just couldn't wait to eat them. Next time I make them, which will be very soon, I'll try to restrain myself long enough to snap a photo.

Crab Quesadillas

Ingredients:

1 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 oz. Cream Cheese
6 oz. crab meat (canned or imitation works great also, just drain it)
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. orange juice
4 8-inch flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Let cream cheese sit out until it is room temperature. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar, red pepper, green onion and orange juice. Mix together well.
2. Fold in crab meat gently.
3. Spread onto 1/2 of each of the four tortillas and fold over to make quesadilla.
4. Preheat pan on stovetop over medium heat (level 5 out of 10 on my stove).
5. Place quesadillas in dry pan (no olive oil, butter or cooking spray) and let the tortillas get brown and crispy - about 3-4 minutes. Flip over and brown other side another 3-4 minutes. You can cover the pan during this time to keep the heat in and help melt the cheese inside the quesadillas.
6. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut them into quarters and serve!

Notes: As a side dish, I grilled up some kabobs with fresh pinapple, chunks of the leftover red bell pepper, red onion, zucchini and yellow squash. So good! The sweet, juicy pineapple went really well with the cheesy and VERY rich quesadillas. For a nice complement, I suggest a semi-dry white wine. My favorite is Evolution #9 - a slightly sweet blended white that goes great with shellfish or anything spicy.