Loaded Avocado Quesadillas (with vegan & gf option)

I'm sharing another great recipe today and I am equally as excited about this one! Where the Jamaican Patties that I shared yesterday are a little more labor intensive these quesadillas are easy peasy and so delicious! These loaded avocado quesadillas came together in just 25 minutes and they were a big hit all around at my house!

I made this recipe 2 different ways - the Bean and my Dad ate plain quesadillas (with cheese and regular tortillas. But I modified the recipe to make it gluten free and dairy free for my mom and I. I will include the instructions for both recipes below. Let's get started!

Start by slicing 1/4 of a red onion and 1 whole red bell pepper. I sliced the pepper and the onion into larger pieces but you could cut them as small as you like! They work well in the quesadilla either way!

Melt about 1 Tablespoons of coconut oil in a large skillet. When the coconut oil is melted, add the pepper and the onion to the pan and cook them until they soften.

Add in 3/4 cup of black beans (I use frozen black beans, but if you are using out of a can, drain them before adding them in) and 2 Tablespoons of taco seasoning. Cook for about 2-3 minutes before setting the filling aside.

Mash up 2 medium sized avocado - our avocados were huge last week so I only used one. You will need to judge based on the size of your avocados. I might recommend starting with 1 and mashing up a second if you need.

Also - everything up until this point is completely gluten and dairy free, so no modifications need to be made. 

Here is where we start making some slight adjustments - I used both gluten free tortillas and regular tortillas. I made 3 gluten free & dairy free quesadillas and 3 regular quesadillas. Spread mashed avocado over half of 6 tortilla shells.

Then, add your filling. For the gluten free and dairy free quesadillas, I just filled them with mashed avocado and the veggie/bean filling. For the regular quesadillas, I filled them with mashed avocado, the veggie/bean filling and grated cheddar cheese.

Cook the quesadillas in a large skillet until they are lightly browned on both sides - about 2 minutes on each side. If there is cheese in your quesadilla, make sure the cheese is melted before you remove it from the pan.

We dipped our quesadillas in salsa and had a delicious quinoa & cilantro salad as a side! It was such a perfect dinner and it came together so quickly! I love how quickly this recipe came together but I also love how easily it could be converted to accommodate food sensitivities!

LOADED AVOCADO QUESADILLAS
serve 4-6 people

ingredients
6 tortillas (gluten free or regular)
1-2 ripe avocados, mashed
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced
3/4 cup black beans
2 Tablespoons taco seasoning
1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

directions
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Slice the bell pepper and the red onion before adding them to the pan. Sauté the veggies until they soften.
2. Add the black beans and the taco seasoning to the skillet and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes longer. Stir often while the filling is cooking. Once the filling is cooked, remove it from the heat and set it aside.
3. Mash the avocado and spread it over half of each of the tortillas.
4. Distribute the veggie & bean filling over the avocado. If you are using cheese, sprinkle it over the veggie and bean filling.
5. Fold the bare half of the tortilla over the filled half and let each tortilla cook in a large skillet until both sides are evenly browned. About 2 minutes per side.
6. Remove the quesadillas from the skillet and serve with your favorite toppings!

I hope you love these quesadillas as much as I did! I'm back tomorrow with another great recipe!