Quesadillas with Carmelized Onions, Black Olives, Tomatoes, and Hot Peppers

When you're looking for an absolutely delicious and quick dinner quesadillas are definitely a good route to travel. Last night I was looking for something that fit this bill while also using some of the vegetables in my refrigerator. My refrigerator was running a little low so I used pretty much everything I had.

I started with about half an onion - the road to success is always better paved when onions are carmelized so I sliced it, threw it in a pan with some butter and let the butter and heat work its magic for about 20 minutes.

I used a block of sharp cheddar cheese that I shredded up for the cheese, but any type of cheese would work fine.

Fresh tomatoes are a must in every summer meal.

Aubrey pulled some black olives out of the cupboard and I decided she was probably onto something. (Martin and I used probably a total of ten olives between our two quesadillas - we cut them in half - the remainder of the 16oz can was consumed by Aubrey. That girl loves her olives!)

I had a hot banana pepper that I was planning on using to make some fresh salsa with, but I couldn't resist adding a little heat to our dinner. I am of the thought that hot peppers should be diced very finely so that the heat is well dispersed and in every bite (rather than a huge bite of hot that you can't handle) so I usually throw them in the food processor to avoid having to do tiny dicing on my own.

Tortillas (either flour or corn) are obviously a neccesary element in quesadilla making

And I served this meal with a side of salsa. I would have definitely also served the quesadillas with sour cream or guacamole, but I didn't have either on hand.

The only ingredient that I think really could have propelled this quesadilla to even greater would have been some spinach to throw in the quesadillas. I only had romaine lettuce on hand and didn't think it would work quite as well in the quesadilla.

These are amazing! Obviously, assemble all ingredients grilled cheese sandwich style and cook on a stovetop. I usually butter the outsides of both tortillas to get that nice golden brown crispiness while it toasts on the skillet.

Enjoy!