Mango Quesadillas

By Dennis Linden

Children in this country consume an estimated 12 percent of their calories from fast food and 20 percent of all American meals are eaten in the car! The consequences are predictably unhealthy. Competing schedules in the day-to-day lives of a busy modern family make it difficult to share a home-cooked meal together, but not impossible. In fact, with a little planning, cooking together can become a fun family event and learning opportunity. This feature will focus on providing a child or a group of children, working together under the supervision of an adult, with one uncomplicated, healthy and delicious side dish recipe. The dishes will be centered on seasonal fresh produce items; the recipes will always contain tasks will allow even the youngest kitchen helper to contribute to the family meal. Parents should always read through each recipe carefully to judge the division of labor based on age and ability as well as to identify where adult attention might be especially needed.

Many of the recipes presented here will seem very basic, this is by design. It is hoped that these simple preparations will provide the culinary foundation and confidence to inspire kids to try more challenging recipes as their experience and confidence in the kitchen develops. Melissa’s encourages parents to find the time to gather as a family unit at least once a week for a dinner that everyone pitches in to prepare. It’s a wonderful way to teach a child some basic culinary skills and, more importantly, cooking with your children will build memories in all your hearts forever. Enjoy your kids in the kitchen, they will be grown & gone before you know it! “No one is born a great cook; one learns by doing” – Julia Child.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations can serve as an opportunity to teach a child how to make one the simplest staple dishes in Mexican cuisine. It is also the GO-TO dish of many college students, second only to Ramen – the Quesadilla. To capture a young sous chef’s attention and imagination, let’s make that a fruit quesadilla! In fact, for the novice cook, this recipe has a few culinary lessons that will travel with your helpers into their own kitchens.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the indigenous people of Mexico used corn tortillas as a staple, often filling them with various ingredients like squash, pumpkin, and spices. In the 16th century, Spanish settlers introduced dairy products, including cheese, to what these conquering expansionists deemed New Spain (Mexico). So, the Indigenous people knew a good thing when they tasted it and began incorporating cheese into their tortillas, creating the precursor to the modern quesadilla. Over time, the dish evolved and spread using regional ingredients as it became popular throughout Mexico and beyond. Today, the quesadilla certainly demonstrates the word “versatile,” featuring various fillings like meats, beans, and vegetables, topped with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. The word in Spanish means “little cheese”.

For this version of an ancient recipe, fresh mango and Pepper Jack cheese are laced with the subtle flavor of Melissa’s dried Chile Guajillo with a fun preparation that your helpers can also file away for future use. The adult in the room just needs to bring a pot of water to a boil, while even the youngest of helpers is busy shaking out the seeds of two peppers. Off the flame, the peppers are then steeped in the boiling hot water until softened. Once cooled enough for small hands, the peppers are split open lengthwise, and the tasty insides scraped from the skin’s interior and retained for the construction of each quesadilla.

While one can choose from an array of fruits that will dice neatly, fresh mango is one of the most flavorful and comes with yet another useful lesson on how to extract the fruit from its clinging pit and thick skin without destroying it – not child’s play. Here, the supervising adult needs to demonstrate this process by at least slicing the mango as close as possible to the pit, scoring the fruit and then watching the awe in your helpers’ eyes as the fruit is “fanned outward” to expose a pre-diced pattern of useable fruit. Learn How to Cut a Mango here.

The rest of the recipe is the fun part – the construction. Sprinkling a few pepitas over the fruit and cheese adds a pleasant crunch and additional flavor to the mix. Looking back on this writer’s own culinary education, and at the risk of sounding overly dramatic about such a simple dish, the making of one’s very first quesadilla is a culinary passage of sorts. Expect a call from a college dorm room in years to come thanking you for this lesson. Enjoy the dish and the journey!
  
Mango Quesadillas 
2 servings 

Ingredients (use half for each quesadilla)
4 Chile guajillo, seeds shaken out    
4 Tortillas (whole wheat or large corn tortillas)
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated 
2 cups Mangoes, diced (or any fruit of choice that dices easily)
4 tablespoons Pepitas

What the kids can do:

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then turn off heat and add chiles to soak for 10 minutes, drain and cool. When cool enough cut each in half lengthwise and scrape out insides from skins – set aside for assembly.

Assembly for one quesadilla: After prepping all ingredients, lay a tortilla flat on a cutting board. Spread with about half of the scrapings from each Chile Guajillo.
Spread enough cheese to lightly cover the scrapings; spread the fruit and pepitas over the cheese.
Sprinkle a little more cheese over the fruit to bind with a second tortilla; spread remaining guajillo scrapings on a second tortilla and then make a sandwich with the first tortilla – hand off to the adult for toasting.

What the supervising adult should do: