Savory Spring Quesadillas & Oven Roasted Asparagus

We had a great dinner tonight! The kind where there are no complaints, only noises of Mmmm! and finger smacking around the table. Love it!

Savory Spring Quesadillas

16 medium-sized flour tortilla shells (We did each quesadilla half white and half wheat.)
1 lb chicken, cooked, seasoned and cut into strips (Tastes great coated in your fav BBQ sauce)
1/2 cup green onions, diced
16 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled
2 avocados, diced and salted with kosher salt
A combo of Mild cheddar cheese and Colby Jack cheese, shredded
8 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400*. Lay out bacon across a baking sheet, and cook 15-20 minutes. Drain on paper towels and reserve drippings for cooking your meat. (You’ll also use it for the asparagus.)

Add 1/2 tbsp bacon drippings to a skillet over medium heat. Add the green onions and saute about 2-3 mins until softened. Add the chicken in a single layer, seasoned with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 mins or until chicken is golden and cooked through. Remove to a plate and clean out skillet.

Add about 1 T of butter to the skillet over medium heat. When foamy, add a tortilla and swirl it around to get it nice and buttery. Layer one side of the white tortilla with chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheeses. Cover with second tortilla, wheat this time. Cook the tortilla for about 1-2 mins on each side or until golden brown and crispy. Use tongs to flip and press down. Place in warm oven on a cookie sheet to keep warm until dinner.

Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, adding a little more butter for each tortilla as needed. Cut into quarters with a pizza cutter & enjoy!

Makes 8 whole quesadillas rounds.

Since these Quesadillas are not “Mexican filled”, as they tend to usually be, we decided to go with an Asparagus side dish, rather than Spanish rice or bean dip etc.

Boy, were we ever glad we did! There was not one stitch of asparagus left, not one. My kids CHOWED it! Asking for more of “that green stuff”.

Oven Roasted Bacon Dripped Asparagus

2 bunches asparagus (about 50 or so stalks)

1/2 c. bacon drippings (reserved from quesadillas)

{Use Olive oil if you have no bacon drippings at your disposal, but I’m sorry for you. There is just no comparison in flavor!!!!! 🙂 }

Generous amount of Kosher Salt (or to taste)

{Kosher Salt will make all the difference in something like this, you want the large-grained crunch and the mellow flavor this salt brings.}

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425*.

After you wash the asparagus, lay out on a tea towel and thoroughly pat dry. This is important so you don’t steam your asparagus, we’re going for roasted here.

Get out a cutting board and knife, you’ll need to remove the hard end of the stalk. Do test cuts in tiny increments, starting at the bottom of the asparagus. You’ll know where to cut by when knife easily slides through.

Line up your asparagus on a couple of baking sheets, or your Pampered Chef bar pans. Drizzle with bacon drippings and generously sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper.

Roast asparagus for about 10 minutes, then test, so that you don’t over cook it! You are wanting to maintain a bit of crisp still, but tender insides.