Baked Chicken Quesadilla

Looking for a way to take some of your favorite simple ingredients and turn them into a brand new dinner that even your kids will love?

I've got it.

I mean it - I do.

Last night I was looking in the fridge, looking in the pantry, looking on Facebook and I was bored bored bored. I knew I was going to do something with the rotisserie chicken I had on-hand and had even asked friends earlier in the day what they would recommend.

A few friends suggested enchiladas, which I've never actually made before, but this sort of spurred me into remembering something I'd done once, which was baking and making a quesadilla.

We have tacos quite frequently in our house. I would say I had made them so often that for a long while I just ignored the ingredients and would skip over them on my mental list of menu options.

But last night it was different. I remembered once making something that turned into a baked quesadilla. I couldn't remember what I did, so I decided to give it a go and create my own.

It was delicious. An absolute success. And so easy to make!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:

* 1 Can Black Beans (drained/rinsed)
* 2 c precooked shredded chicken
* 8 oz sour cream
* 1 pkt Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
* 2 large tortillas
* 4 slices of super thin Colby Jack cheese

This will absolutely leave you with extras, but if you're like me you won't mind that one bit. So keep on reading!

Set oven to 350*.

Drain and rinse your black beans and toss them into a bowl.
Add shredded chicken.
Use separate bowl to mix sour cream and HALF of the ranch dressing packet. Feel free to adjust to your taste, but about half seemed perfect for us.
Combine the two bowls.
Lay one tortilla down in baking pan/on cookie sheet.
Cover with chicken/bean/ranch mixture. Be careful not to make too puffy. This will NOT use all of the filling - you will have extra to work with.
Layer cheese slices on top.
Cover with second tortilla.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, checking at around 30 to observe.
Adjust time if you want the tortillas to brown. Ours look light but were crispy enough and not too crispy at the same time.

And when you have the extra filling it can work perfectly with another tortilla (we only had one left so I made a half quesadilla with some shredded mozzarella cheese and YUM!).

You can certainly reduce the amounts you use to make just one whole quesadilla, and opt for reduced fat sour cream, light cheese (but WHY? Why would you do that?), whole wheat tortillas or some of those veggie ones. I'm a big fan of the spinach and the sun-dried tomato kinds. You can use shredded cheese, shred your own, whatever you have on-hand and works for you. I usually use shredded but the only flavor I had was mozzarella, and I really wanted something with a little color to it. Both tasted amazing.

My daughter absolutely LOVED it and she proceeded to tell me I am the best cooker EVER.

And what other sort of compliment does one need, really?

Hope you enjoy!

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