Meatless Monday: Poblano, Mango, and Black Bean Quesadillas

Sometimes it feels like Mexican food is all ground beef and refried beans—even tostadas are covered with icky, lard-y beans and gloppy sour cream. While Tex-Mex is a delicious indulgence once in a while, lately I’ve found myself craving Mexican food with a little more snappy flavor and a little less guilt. Celebrate the end of summer by added a little tropical fruit to your quesadilla! Skeptical? I was too. But the sweetness of the mango totally balances and plays off the spice of the poblano pepper, leaving you pleasantly full and entirely satisfied. Click through for the full recipe: Poblano, Mango, and Black Bean Quesadilla Glug a little olive oil into a frying pan, and add your diced sweet onion (deliciously in-season). Allow to sizzle while you seed and chop a whole poblano pepper. A note: after a bad experience seeding a jalapeno with my bare hands a few weeks ago, leaving me with mild chemical burns and utterly unable to touch my face for a whole day, I was more than a little nervous to battle this poblano. And no, I hadn’t been smart enough to purchase disposable gloves (d’oh). Lucky for me, I remembered a recent #KitchenTip tweeted by @Foodista: coat hands with olive oil to prevent oil from spicy peppers from adhering to your fingers. It worked! Hurray. Note my shiny hands in the photo below. Add chopped poblano to frying pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Your eyes might start watering! Retreat if necessary. Allow mixture to sauté for a few minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the rinsed black beans to the pan. Allow to heat for about a minute. In this time, peel and cube an avocado… …and a small mango. (If you’re like me and have no idea how to properly cube a mango, watch this video tutorial by Chef Allen Susser). Pull your frying pan off the heat and stir in the mango and avocado. Yum. Prepare your tortillas by either frying them in butter (my favorite), or arranging them on a lightly greased cookie sheet, covering them with a small handful of cheddar cheese each, and letting the cheese melt under your oven’s broiler. Spread the bean mixture over half of each tortilla and fold over. Cut into three pieces, and serve with a dollop of sour cream or guacamole! Enjoy.