Vegan Black Bean Quesadillas

tendollarwine's Note:

I was inspired to make this after looking around at the other quesadilla recipes on here. So I took a few ideas and kind of smooshed them together to make this amazing meal. I fed it to my non-vegan friends who told me it's the best food I've ever made. **A tip for the soy cheese**-grate the cheese and set it aside before you start cooking. Letting it warm up to room temperature will help it melt a lot easier (and evenly!) in the oven.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 1/2 cups dried black beans
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can sweet corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 -2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 10 ounces soy cheddar cheese, finely grated (Follow Your Heart brand is best)
• 8 large flour tortillas
• cooking spray (to coat tortillas) or vegetable oil (to coat tortillas)

Directions:

1. To prepare the beans, rinse them off and pour them into a large bowl or tupperware container. Cover with at least 3 inches of water and let soak for 1-3 days. If they smell or get a foam on top of the water, that's ok, it's gases escaping from the beans. After the soaking is done, drain the beans and rinse them off. Pour into a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are soft when you bite into them.
2. After the beans are done cooking, pour into a colander to drain. Heat the oil in a large, deep pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute until the onions are softened.
3. Next, add the peppers, beans, tomatoes, cumin, chili powder and salt. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetbles are softened.
4. Finally, add the corn and cilantro, stir well to combine and cook for another few minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
6. Lay 2-3 tortillas on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Spoon the bean mixture onto half of each tortilla, top with the grated soy cheese, and fold the other half of the tortilla over. Either spray the top of the quesadilla with cooking spray, or dip your finger in vegetable oil and smear over the top.
7. Do this with each tortilla and bake in the oven for 5-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the top of the quesadilla is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting into thirds. Serve with vegan sour cream and a side of Spanish rice.

Reviews

[Chef #623817]

This was delicious! I used regular cheese (we're not vegan). I also added a little chopped fresh spinach.