My Little Chef

OK. So this isn't a recipe post. I just wanted you to see my five-year-old doing one of his favorite things . . . cooking! Here he's wearing a pillowcase on his head as his chef's hat. He loves to put a little of this and a little of that in a bowl. He mixes it together and, ta-dah, he's made a new recipe. He's a bit of an experimenter and he agrees that most of the things he makes taste absolutely awful. But then Jonathan's always been an optimist. He just heads out to the basil plant, snips off a sprig, slaps it on top and says, "There's a decoration for the table." So, if you ever are invited to dinner at our house and wonder what that basil-scented goo in the center of the table is, just know it's culinary genius in the making. My little chef.

Potato Cheddar Quesadillas

Quesadillas are an easy lunch in our household. Tortillas, veggies, maybe some leftover meat, cheese. Toast it together in a skillet and serve it with salsa and sourcream. Yum! But since I was looking for some more adventurous vegetarian meals I tried these great quesadillas filled with potatoes, of all things. Since it IS a quesadilla there is no need to be nitpicky about a recipe. The filling I used consisted of this: 4 baby potatoes boiled and then sliced, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 large carrot minced. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add the carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes until the potatoes are golden. You might need to add a little more olive oil if they are looking dry. Toss in the garlic for about a minute. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Now divide this filling between two tortillas, sprinkle some grated cheddar on top of each, and then cover with another tortilla. Toast the quesadillas in a skillet and serve with some salsa and sour cream. This makes a hearty, filling meal for two!

Now I also made my own Spanish Rice with some help from a Martha Stewart recipe. Granted, I didn't add the onions called for in the recipe, but I found the rice to be a little boring. In fact, no one ate the leftovers and they ended up getting tossed. Oh well!