Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

These are seriously the best quesadillas - and I've had a lot of quesadillas! A chicken quesadilla is typically my stand-by order at restaurants when nothing else pops out at me. I've made quesadillas at home before, and they've been good, but these are better than good. And paired with THIS salsa - OMG! Bob said they were the best quesadillas he's ever had, and he doesn't just hand out compliments when it comes to my cooking because I urge him to be brutally honest.

I was having a spastic day in the kitchen the first time I made these. It was the night after I had frosted and decorated these and these, plus I had an 11-hour work day, so I was exhausted. I didn't start making them until 7pm, and when I saw the "marinate for at least 1 hour" bit, I was having none of that! I decided to cut the chicken into small pieces before marinating to speed up the process. I guess I ended up changing the recipe a bit, but the original is linked below, which includes button mushrooms, so check it out if you like mushrooms!

Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for sauteing/grilling

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Juice of 1 lime

1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

1 large clove garlic, grated

fajita seasoning to taste (~1/8-1/4 package, I prefer McCormick)

~1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves, torn

2-3 large flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Add marinade ingredients to a resealable plastic bag and squeeze to mix. Marinate in fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Add grated garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add all of the contents of the plastic bag and sprinkle on fajita seasoning. Cook until chicken is done and moisture is absorbed. Toss in torn spinach and cook until wilted, remove from heat.

3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and brush lightly with olive oil. Place a tortilla down on the pan, add some Monterey Jack cheese, then 1/2 or 1/3 of the chicken/spinach mixture (depending on how much you have), and top with more of the cheese. Fold over the tortilla and cook until tortilla is crispy and grill marks have formed. Flip to cook other side. Repeat with remaining quesadilla(s).

4. Cut quesadillas with a pizza cutter. Serve with salsa and light sour cream. Enjoy!!!

Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats