Grilled Cumin Lime Zucchini Quesadillas

~Amanda~

This past weekend was closing weekend up in the mountains and our last few days of snowboarding for the season, so we packed all our gear away and now I am so ready for summer (even though now there is a chance of snow again this weekend – ugh)! To get in the spirit, on Monday night (or should I say Meatless Monday  – because I practice Meatless Mondays almost every week, much to Conor’s dismay) I decided to make one of my favorite, summery (kind of) meals… Grilled Cumin Lime Zucchini Quesadillas. I found this recipe on Naturally Ella a few years ago and just love the combination of flavors and how she took the quesadilla to a ‘gourmet’ level. These are seriously the best quesadillas you will ever have – nothing like your plain old cheese quesadilla – they’re full of delicious flavor, zucchini (which is by far my favorite summer vegetable and so abundant already), and a tasty Greek yogurt dipping sauce. These are so easy to make and are the perfect weeknight meal!

The first and most important step is to make the marinade for the zucchini. All of the amazing flavor in these quesadillas comes from the marinade so you definitely cannot skip it! To make it; combine olive oil, lots of cumin to bring in that amazing warm flavor, cayenne for a little kick, lime zest and juice (I think the zest is even more flavorful than the juice) for a some tang, and finally some honey for a sweet finish. I mean how does that not sound amazing? You then place thinly sliced zucchini in the marinade and let it sit for about 30 minutes so all those delicious flavors can get absorbed. While the zucchini is marinating, you can make the Cumin Lime Yogurt Sauce. This is a tasty (and healthy) twist on the traditional sour cream you would dip a normal quesadilla in. To make it combine Greek yogurt with lime juice, cumin, and cilantro. It’s a cool, refreshing bite to have with the warm, cheesy quesadillas… perfection!

Now comes the fun part – grilling! So the day I made these was a little chilly and the weather wasn’t awesome, so I decided to make them inside using my grill pan. But if the weather’s good and you have a grill, use it. There’s something about grilling your food on an outdoor grill that just makes it taste even better. The first step is to grill the zucchini – this should only take a few minutes per side over medium heat. Once it’s golden brown and tender, remove and cut into small bites. Then to make the quesadillas place one tortilla on the grill (I made Conor’s with traditional white gluten full tortillas and mine with Rudi’s Gluten Free tortillas – and they were both awesome, you could even use a whole wheat tortilla to make them even healthier). Next, put your cheese and sliced zucchini on top and then the other tortilla. Grill it for a few minutes on each side until the cheese is melted and there are golden grill marks on the tortillas. Remove, slice, and serve with the yogurt sauce and be prepared to eat the best quesadilla of your life! ENJOY!

(The ones made with Rudi’s Gluten Free Tortillas were AWESOME – So don’t be afraid of the gluten free option!)