I learned this from my friend N, many years ago.

N is wonderful. She has the power to make food happen. She shows up at your place with a veritable Bag of Holding, and it’s filled with all sorts of delicious things.

One time she showed up with tortillas and cheese and I don’t remember what else. Garlic and tomatoes, I think. We watched, fascinated, as she chopped the garlic, tomatoes and cheese, and arranged them on one side of the open tortilla.

She put a pan on the stove and turned on the flame, letting the heat spread before she carefully slid the open tortilla onto it. Using a spatula, she folded it carefully into a half-circle, and pressed down so that the cheese would melt and hold everything together. She flipped it over, carefully so the filling wouldn’t spill out, and we saw a toasty tortilla. A few minutes, and the other side was lovely and toasty too.

N slid the whole thing onto a plate, and we cut the crunchy tortilla into triangles. It was a lovely bunch of flavors and textures: gooey melted cheese, a tart burst of tomato, and the sharp crunch of the garlic, encased in the crumbly tortilla.

Since then, I’ve made quesadillas with various ingredients: ham, different cheeses, mushrooms, garlic chips, chili garlic. Sometimes I sprinkle it with cayenne pepper or black pepper. It’s always interesting.

This time, I used eggplant that I oven-roasted last week, queso de bola, and store-bought garlic chips. Instead of full-sized tortillas, I used the small ones that we got to go with my brother’s hummus. And I dipped the resulting quesadilla in said hummus.

My tummy was pretty happy with the results!