Shrimp, Swiss Chard, and Swiss Cheese Quesadillas

I was having so much fun last week, posting Cinco de Mayo recipes, that I wanted to make just one more thing that could possibly pass for Mexican. When all was said and done, I think this recipe turned out a bit too out-there to be an authentic Mexican dish, but I really enjoyed it all the same!



I had seen the basic idea for these quesadillas in Cooking Light Magazine, but I took the concept and ran far, far away with it. There was an article last month about putting dark, leafy greens into your quesadilla, usually with some type of protein, and using less cheese. It's an unexpected surprise in between your tortilla, but it's very nutritious and completely tasty. I'm always up for trying new ideas, so I forged on with this one and made it my own.



For my greens, I chose mustard greens. For my protein, I chose to work with shrimp. For my cheese, I was feeling like some Swiss, so that's what I went with. I started out by sauteeing some onions low and slow, then I added garlic, red bell pepper, and finally the mustard greens. Once the greens had wilted down considerably, I turned the heat off and went about assembling the quesadillas. They came together very quickly, and then they baked up in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. The resulting quesadilla was scrumptious! Sweet from the onions, bitter/flavorful from the mustard greens, and the shrimp was great in there. I can only imagine how great sausage would be instead, but this totally worked, too. Feel free to be way more generous with your cheese than I was; I'm a cheese conservationist!

Shrimp, Mustard Greens, and Swiss Cheese Quesadillas
recipe by Bri
makes 8 quesadillas

Ingredients
1/2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 cups mustard greens (1 bunch), stemmed and chopped
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
32 shrimp (the size I used was 26/30 per lb.), cooked, shelled, and tails removed
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
8 flour tortillas
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Once the onions have started to soften, lower the heat to medium-low, cover the skillet, and continue to cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the lid from the onions, allow to cook for another 2 minutes, then add the red bell pepper and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes more, then add in about half the mustard greens. Toss and turn the greens, allowing them to wilt evenly. Sprinkle the Old Bay seasoning over the greens, then add the other half. Once all the greens have wilted down, remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.

3. Take your tortillas and begin to assemble the quesadillas. Lay a tortilla flat, then spread 1/8 of the greens mixture on it. On top of this, add your shrimp (I sliced my shrimp each in half lengthwise, making them extra thin, but this is optional), 4 per quesadilla. Next comes the Swiss cheese, 1 Tbsp. per quesadilla. Fold the tortilla in half, so it forms a half moon, then spray the top with cooking spray. Transfer the quesadilla to a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

4. Bake the quesadillas for 8-10 minutes, until the filling is very hot, the cheese is melted, and the tortillas have just begun to brown and crisp up on the edges. Cut into wedges and serve.