Cheese Quesadilla with Chili and Citrus Papaya Salad

Want to try something a little different from your normal cheese quesadilla and salsa dinner? - Then try a simple cheese quesadilla served with sweet and tart, spicy papaya salad alongside - you won’t believe how well it all goes together.

Cheese Quesadilla with Chili and Citrus Papaya Salad

• 4 six inch flour tortillas
• ½ lb of mozzarella, or Chihuahua, or Monterey Jack or brick cheese, basically whatever mild melting cheese you like in a quesadilla will work just fine here
• 2 cups of cubed ripe papaya
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbls of honey
• 2 Tbls of freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbls of freshly squeezed lime juice
• A little romaine lettuce or leaf lettuce (for plating the fruit salad on top of)
• About ½ cup of plain yogurt
• ½ tsp to 1 tsp dried chili power (use more or less, depending on your preference for spicy food)
• Salt to taste

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the honey, lime juice, orange juice, dried chili and a pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning and add more sweet (honey), salt or sour (lime juice) as needed to get a good balance of flavors.
2. Mix in the papaya and the red onion and taste again, to see if it needs any further adjustments once the dressing is paired with the fruit.
3. Heat a large heavy frying pan over medium - divide the cheese evenly between the tortillas and then fold the tortilla over the cheese to close in half. Dry fry the tortillas (no oil) until the cheese is melted and the tortillas have started to brown up slightly. You will have to do this in batches, unless you have a very large griddle type frying pan.
4. Cut each tortilla into wedges and arrange on a plate beside a few leaves of romaine or leaf lettuce. On top of the leaf lettuce, drizzle a couple of Tbls of yogurt and then top this with the papaya salad mixture.

Enjoy!

For plating, I like to cut each quesadilla into about 5 smallish wedges and then arrange these out in a circle, with the pointy ends facing outward around the few leaves of yogurt topped lettuce that I arrange in the center of the plate. After spooning the papaya salad on top of the lettuce and yogurt, I drizzle a little of the remaining citrus/honey dressing in a ring over the quesadilla wedges near the rim of the plate – very pretty stuff.