Recipe for shrimp quesedillas, a street vendor favorite...

Quesedillas make the perfect food to eat while watching a football game, NASCAR race, Mexican soap opera, or anything you can imagine.. Basically, they're the Mexican version of a cheese sandwich, grilled to a crispy texture. This recipe is a version that I picked up from a street vendor in Tijuana, and in addition to the classic garnishes, it includes grilled shrimp.

Photo: I've placed the ingredients on the quesadillas and they're ready for the grill. Note that the shrimp has been pre-grilled, and sports attractive grill marks.

Special Tools: George Foreman Grill, any grill, comal or cast iron frying pan will work
Preparation time: About 10 minutes
Cooking Time: About 7 minutes, see text
Yield: 1 generous serving or two "smaller" servings

4 small corn tortillas, about 5-1/2" in diameter
1/2 cup small cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 medium onion, white variety preferred, diced
2 jalapeno chili peppers, diced
1/4 cup diced cilantro
1/2 Hass avocado, sliced, diced and mashed
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese, 4 or 5-cheese blend
1 firm tomato, diced, preferably Roma
1/2 sliced lemon or lime, optional

Heat un-greased grill, griddle or comal to high heat. Place shrimp on grill and cook until grill marks appear, about two minutes. Flip over and repeat process. If you're using a George Foreman Grill, merely close the cover and cook shrimp on high heat for two minutes. Remove shrimp from grill and reserve.

Dice onion, peppers, tomato, avocado mixture and cheese, set aside. Mix ingredients together and set aside. Place two tortillas on cutting board, spoon mixture, evenly divided on each tortilla, and spread evenly over surface of tortilla. Arrange cooked shrimp on top of vegetable mixture, and place second tortilla over mixture and press down with palms of your hand, ensuring that mixture is even divided. Place on grill and cook, about 4 minutes until grill marks appear. Using a spatula, carefully turn quesadilla over and cook an additional 3 minutes, or until grill parks appear on both sides. See photo. Remove from heat. Cut into quarters and serve immediately.

Photo: Two quesadallas cooking on my George Foreman Grill. Note the attractive grill marks on the tortillas. These aren't ready yet, I just opened up the grill momentarily to snap the photo.

If you're using a George Foreman Grill, you've really got it made, as all you have to do is place the quesadillas on the bottom grill, and close the top grill, and allow your meal to cook for about 5 minutes. Attractive grill marks will appear, and you won't have to flip the quesadillas over, which can be somewhat tricky.

Quesadillas make an excellent snack or a light meal. If you want to make quesadillas a main dish, add any kind of shredded, cooked meat to the mixture and you'll have a complete meal. We prefer to add chicken, turkey or pork, but any meat will do. Feel free to substitute ingredients.

Photo: Two quesadillas make a big plate full. In Mexico, street vendors don't cut the quesadillas into quarters, but if you're watching tv, it makes them much easier to eat and enjoy.

I'm a big fan of outdoor grilling, since outdoor grilling utilizes wood smoke, which tends to implant a smoky taste into food. However with quesadillas, since the cooking time is so short, the smoke doesn't have a chance to permeate the food, so you can't tell the difference between cooking your quesedilla outdoors, or indoor, on your George Foreman Grill.

Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...