Categories: Recipes

Spinach Caprese Quesadilla

While at work yesterday, my mind kept drifting to dinner–but nothing was sounding good to me.  Since I have an abundance of tomatoes and basil (thank you backyard garden for your fruitfulness 🙂 ) I decided to do something caprese inspired. 

Caprese is one of my all-time favorite Italian dishes, and it typically consists of tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

Before diving into to the caprese, I got to work on some brussel sprouts.  I halved 10 brussel sprouts, trimmed down any rough ends of the stem, and then made a small slit down the core of each sprout half.  I read that making this little slit on the rougher part of the sprout helps to ensure even cooking.  I put the sprouts on a cookie sheet that was liberally sprayed with cooking spray, then seasoned them with S&P, and gave them a good toss before throwing them into a 415 degree oven for 17 minutes.

Brussel sprouts!

Now onto the caprese!  First, I sliced up 1 roma tomato and 1 Sargento light mozzarella string cheese and put them into a bowl:

Then, I drizzled the tomato and mozzarella with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and a 1/2 tsp olive oil and sprinkled with some salt and pepper.  Next I added 3 sliced up fresh basil leaves and tossed everything to coat.

Meanwhile, I topped a Mama Lupe’s Low Carb tortilla with some fresh spinach and topped with the tomato mozzarella mixture:

I topped this off with a second Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla, then I popped this baby onto the George foreman grill for about 5 minutes (until the tortilla was crisp and the cheese was melty):

None of these pictures do the quesadilla justice!  If you like caprese, you will love this:

I’m hoping I get some tips on taking pictures of food indoors at the Healthy Living Summit!  I can never seem to get indoor pictures quite right!

By the way, if you love caprese too check out the recipe I tried for hot caprese! I also added “rating” scale to my recipe page 

Stats on dinner:  325 calories, 43g carbs, 12g fat, 20g protein, 14g fiber

 

A few hours after dinner, it was time for my night time snack.  I was craving a green monster smoothie, so I put the following into the blender:

  • 1/4 cup Stonyfield Farms Fat Free Yogurt
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh frozen blueberries
  • 1 packet Truvia
  • 1 ice cube

Green Monster:

This guy was so much GREENER in person than in these photos… my camera was being stubborn last night!

Stats on the green monster:  119 calories, 24g carbs, 2g fat, 8g protein, 6g fiber

 

Question:  what’s your favorite “healthified” Italian dish?

Mary

Hello! I’m Mary, a self-proclaimed fervent foodie and carbohydrate connoisseur. This blog is about my life—my passions, adventures, and failures—through food. I’m a bean counting CPA by trade, but my true passion is food. It is the unabashed soul of my being. The history, the culture, the taste, the experience–I am fascinated and enchanted by it all. I devote my free time almost entirely to scouting out delicious restaurants and cooking up new recipes. It makes me especially happy when I can take a recipe and “healthify” it. By this I mean turn it into something healthy and nutritious that still tastes friggin’ delicious. I love to connect with readers, restaurants, and those in public relations, so email me and let’s talk food! Google

View Comments

  • Here's an awesome recipe for Brussel sprouts cooked in the microwave--just combine the ingredients below, pour over your sprouts after deeply scoring the ends twice (with an "x" or a cross) and removing the old outer leaves. This is great with steamed rice . . .

    1 tbs soy sauce
    1 tbs cooking sherry
    1 tbs red wine vinegar
    1 tsp of lemon juice
    1/2 tsp of sesame oil
    1/2 tsp of sugar
    1/2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbs cold water

    • That sounds good! Though I don't have any cooking sherry or sesame oil... Might have to stop at the grocery store.

  • Mmm... caprese has to be one of my favorite combinations - I made a caprese quesadilla just yesterday!! :) I should drag out my old foreman so I can get the grill marks :)

  • OMG that looks so good!
    Mom's recipe for brussel sprouts is the best! I still need to try them roasted though

Recent Posts

It’s complicated.

When I was a freshman in college, I often carried a rice crispy treat in…

4 years ago

Republic of Vermont – Organic Maple Syrup & Raw Honey {review}

If you've never had the pleasure of doing a honey or maple syrup tasting, I…

4 years ago

Back Pocket Kale Salad

A big thanks to Hook Line and Savor for sponsoring this post and for creating great-tasting, allergy-friendly,…

4 years ago

Hook Line & Savor: Black Bean Crusted Cod and Avocado Salad with Chimichurri Dressing

A big thanks to Hook Line and Savor for sponsoring this post and for creating great-tasting,…

4 years ago

Spicy Peanut Butter Curry Stew {vegan, gluten-free, whole30}

A quick and hearty vegan and gluten-free stew that comes together in less then 20…

5 years ago

The day I ate dozen eggs.

Last month, I got the chance to hang out with some folks from the Ohio…

5 years ago