Tomato quesadilla beans and cheese is one of my kids favourite snacks… and they are low fat too! Quesadillas come from Mexico, and the many varieties that I’ve seen apparently come from the original recipe. This one, however, does not.

It taste great, don’t get me wrong! But it is not the original quesadilla recipe. For starters, the tortillas (pronounced “tor-tee-yas”)it uses are flour tortillas. Now, the real ones are made from corn, and there is no way of substituting the peculiar flavour and texture of cooked corn “masa”.

In the USA, where 1 in every 7 Americans is from a Hispanic origin, you guys are lucky to find a good Mexican grocery outlet in many of your main cities. If you happen to know of a good place, you may want to try the real thing. Just ask for “tortillas”, and they’ll look after you.

That would taste closer to the original recipe. However, the downside of quality control is that your points go up with the real thing. This bean, cheese and tomato quesadilla is worth 2.5 per serve. If you eat the real thing, you’ll be consuming 5 points. Saving points or eating the real thing? It’s your call.

Ingredients for tomato quesadilla beans and cheese:

• 8 medium flour tortillas
• 1 can of refried beans (200 g or 6.5 oz)
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp chopped jalapeño peppers (you can do away with them if you don’t like hot food)
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Canola oil in spray

This is what you do:

First, lay 4 of the tortillas on the kitchen bench (or any flat surface will do), and spread the beans on each of the tortillas on equal proportions. Make sure you leave a 1 cm border around the tortilla, spreading the beans mainly within that border.

Top with the tomatoes, and jalapeño chilies and cheese, and then “sandwich” them with the remaining tortillas.

Now spray a non-stick frying pan with the oil spray, and cook the quesadilla till both sides are golden.

Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Cut the quesadillas into wedges and divide them into 6.

That’s it!

Nutritional Information:

• Serves 6
• Fat: 4.5 g
• Cal: 145
• KJ: 615
• WW: 2.5 Points