A Dang Quesa-Dilla

by Mara @ What's For Dinner? on September 3, 2009

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Remember how yesterday, I made 5 pounds of roasted chicken with the intent of using the leftovers in another recipe? I think that every other time I’ve said that I’m going to “use the leftovers” I have given up and made something new.

NOT TODAY!

We had a different schedule at work today, and I ended up eating lunch nearly a full hour earlier than I normally do. That meant, that by the time I got home, I was beyond ready for dinner. We had an “early bird special” dinner using the leftover chicken (not to be confused with Leftover Salmon) some tortillas, SoySations soy cheese, grilled onions, salsa, sour cream avocado, and a hot frying pan.

These quesadillas were delicious! I made a condiment plate to go with them, and am thrilled with how delicious that SoySations cheese is!

Since you all seemed to LOVE the Spanish Lesson from Tuesday, I thought I’d give you a brief history of the quesadilla, and why its named as such.

*Spanish Lesson #2 from your Friendly Neighborhood Blogging Spanish Teacher*

Quesadillas are some of the most traditional and OLDEST Mexican snack. Like the burrito, people on the road, or in the fields needed food that they could eat while working or riding a horse, and came up with the quesadilla. In northern Mexico, the quesadillas are simple: fresh tortilla, white cheese, and maybe some epazote. As one moves farther south, the quesadillas become more and more involved, featuring meats, cheeses, vegetables such as nopales, peppers, and onions, but there is one constant. That constant? Tortilla and cheese.

Spanish is full of words that are made up of two words stuck together:

Paraguas (umbrella) made up from the word para meaning “for”, and agua meaning “water”
Quehaceres (chores) mad up from the word que meaning “that” and hacer meaning “to do”
Sacapuntas (pencil sharpener) made up from sacar meaning “to draw out” and puntas meaning “points”
Quesadilla (um…quesadilla?) made up from queso meaning cheese and tortilla meaning, well, tortilla

So as you can see, many words are made up of other words, but none is as obvious as the quesadilla. Tortillas and cheese are always present, as is the “folded over” form of a traditional quesadilla.

*Class Dismissed ¡Adiós!*

I’m heading out to Utica, NY tomorrow night, so who knows where my next post will come from! Could it be from the airport with my pumpkin spice latte? Could it be from the air? We’ll have to wait and see! I do have to say though, I’m bringing workout clothes, and fully intend on using them at least twice. I have GOT to get my booty moving!

Have a great Friday everyone, and a fantastic Labor Day weekend!