quesadilla triangles with corn salsa and limed sour cream (and the pumpkin soup, which sucked) it seems like lately i've enjoyed eating things on top of other things. meatloaf on top of mashed potatoes. apple-chutney-esque on top of chops. a couple nights ago it was stuff on top of quesadilla wedges in place of cheese toasts.

earlier this week i tried this black bean and pumpkin soup recipe. it sucked. it was bland, lacking in flavor but had a curry-cumin spice that gave it an after kick. you eat something and it's kinda bland and you go eh then you get this afterburn in your throat... you should be able to enjoy both the food and the spice. i am so disappointed with this experiment that i'm not including the recipe, i'm linking to it, i'm not even going to tell you where i found it (and btw i've seen it in three different place this week, and a variation that replaced black beans with roasted corn).

but

with the baby food-looking soup i served up little triangles of tortillas filled with cheese and topped with a corn salsa and a limed sour cream. were it not for those little nuggets of cheesey goodness my sweet, loving family would have starved in desperation.

quesadillas with corn salsa &c.

• 8 flour tortillas
• 4 oz. monterey jack cheese, grated
• 4 oz. sharp cheese, your choice but i used a gruyere
• 1 pint salsa fresca (store bought, or see below)
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped super small

if you can find a commercially available salsa that you like -- not in a jar, which is usually cooked, but fresh stuff that's actually chunks of stuff -- by all means save yourself the trouble. otherwise you can make a quick salsa using

• 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 small jalapeno pepper, seeded, chopped super fine
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

you toss all that in a bowl and chill at least an hour before preceding.

about 30 minutes before you're planning to serve take the salsa and the frozen corn and mix in a bowl and let sit.
heat an oven to 325 degrees.
divide the cheese equally across four of the tortillas, top with the other tortillas and set in the oven on wire racks.
in a bowl mix lime juice and cilantro. add sour cream and stir to mix.
when the tortillas have begun to brown and crisp and the cheese is all melty remove from the oven and cut into 8 triangular wedges each (32 in all!).
top each wedge with a but of corn salsa and a dollop of sour cream and serve.

kid tested and approved.
will feed 8 as an appetizer or 4 whose main dish totally sucked.
there will be leftover sour cream. it is good on baked potatoes. it is good on eggs along with the salsa.
they are addictive. especially when you are starved.  ¶ Thursday, November 09, 2006