Saturdays with Sarah: Healthy Twists on Traditional Favorites

Happy Saturday, everyone!!

Something I hear quite often when people talk about their favorite foods, is this:

“I love ______ but it’s unhealthy for me.  None of my favorite foods are healthy.”

Well, how sad is THAT!  If your thought process is that way, I know a few things about you.  You are aware of when something is healthy or not, you’re afraid to try new things, and you’re settling for a lifestyle of doing things the way you always have done them, regardless of their health value or lack thereof.

Well, I have good news!  Lately I’ve been exploring healthy ways of making traditionally favorite foods.  You find something that can usually be a nutritional pitfall, and find ways to tweak it to make it better for you, all while still enjoying that type of food.

Today we’ll tackle a food that usually is soaked in oil, weighed down with cheese, and has no vegetables in sight:  THE QUESADILLA.

I found this recipe on Health.com when I was looking for new healthy recipes to try.  It is a Sweet Potato Quesadilla!!!  Sound weird?  It sounded weird to me too!  But I figured, if someone has this posted on health.com, I may as well give it a try.  And let me tell you, it was incredible.  I only changed one thing, I used brown rice tortillas instead of flour tortillas.  Click Here for a link to the brand I used.  I’ve made this meal several times in the past couple of months.  Click Here for a link to their recipe.

Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings/ 1 Serving = 1 Quesadilla)

• 2 medium sweet potatoes (1 pound total)
• 1 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 black peppercorns
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 (6-inch) brown rice tortillas
• 5 cups baby spinach (about 4 ounces)
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 4 teaspoons olive oil  (I used sesame oil because it’s better when used with heat)

Preparation

1. Microwave potatoes on high until tender (about 15 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, and peppercorns; bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Place onion slices in a medium heatproof bowl; pour hot vinegar mixture over onion and let stand 10 minutes. Drain onion slices and transfer to a plate to cool.

3. Split cooked potatoes open with a knife; remove flesh and transfer to a bowl (you should have about 1 cup). Use a fork to mash potato with salt and pepper; divide potato filling among 4 tortillas. Top each with 1 heaping cup spinach, 1/4 cup cheese, and another tortilla.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, heat 1 teaspoon oil and transfer 1 quesadilla to skillet; cook until quesadilla is crisp and cheese is melted (about 3 minutes per side). Transfer cooked quesadilla to serving plate. Repeat with remaining oil and quesadillas. Cut quesadillas in quarters and serve each with 1/4 cup pickled onions.

Nutrition Information

• Calories per serving 391g
• Fat per serving 13.8g
• Saturated fat per serving 4.7g
• Monounsaturated fat per serving 6.9g
• Polyunsaturated fat per serving 1.6g
• Protein per serving 14g
• Carbohydrates per serving 52g
• Fiber per serving 6g
• Cholesterol per serving 18mg
• Iron per serving 4mg
• Sodium per serving 750mg
• Calcium per serving 352mg

And there we have it!  Want to see a picture?

Sweet Potato Quesadilla

Let me know what you think when you try it.  I’m telling you, it’s a new and different taste but the tastes blend together so wonderfully!  I hope you’ll be as impressed by it as I was!  Enjoy!

See you next Saturday,

Sarah

Tags: Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, quesadilla, Recipe, Saturdays with Sarah

Category: CONTRIBUTORS, Healthy Eating