Cheese Quesadillas - meat free recipe

'You know' he said one evening 'I'd love to have some Mexican food for dinner tonight'.

That's all very well and good, and I like to please, but did I have any Mexican ingredients?

No, I didn't.

But I did have a ripe avocado, a lemon, some pita bread, fresh cilantro growing in a pot and, as always, some cheese. So mixing cultures a little, I decided to make quesadillas using the pita. As with everything I cook, it promised to be easy, quick and healthy.

Quesadillas are often fried, or cooked with a lot of oil, and I wanted to avoid that. From the nutritional information on the packaging, I discovered that the multigrain pita have only 155 calories and no cholesterol but have goodies like fiber, calcium and iron so this makes them healthier than the flour tortillas I'd normally use.

The avocado makes a very quick guacamole and the quesadillas are cooked under the broiler, rather than oven-baked, which helps to cut down on the time it takes to create this delicious dinner. Since I first made this, we often have it for lunch or even for a quick snack because it's so fast and easy to prepare.

• 2 multi grain pita breads
• 1 lemon
• 1 avocado
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 onion, peeled
• 1 tomato
• 3 - 4oz. cheese
• A little olive oil

BROILER

Turn on the broiler (or grill if you're English!) to a low heat.

BREAD

Slice the pita breads horizontally - I do this with a serrated bread knife. With the cut side facing upwards, place one half under the other. This warms both halves when they're under the broiler.

PREPARE TO BROIL

Lightly oil a large cookie sheet. Place the two pita breads on the sheet with one half underneath the other and place in the oven..

Chop the onion and add to a small bowl. Do the same with the tomatoes and half the cilantro. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Chop the garlic and squish it even further by pressing it with the bowl of a spoon, Alternatively use a garlic press. Add half the garlic to the bowl and mix.

ADD THE MIXTURE

Spread the vegetable medley onto the pitas, diving it between the two. Return the cookie sheet to the oven while you grate the cheese. Once the vegetables are heated through - but still crisp and crunchy - top each pita with cheese, cover with their 'lids' (the other half of the pita bread) and return them to the oven.

QUICK GUACAMOLE

Peel the avocado and chop the flesh into a bowl. (I use the same one that I used for the vegetable mix - no point in adding to the cleanup process!) Add the remaining garlic, lemon juice and chopped cilantro. I keep a little cilantro back to garnish the final dish and reserve two thin wedges of lemon. Mash the avocado and other ingredients together well with a fork. If you like smooth guacamole, you can use a blender - we prefer ours with chunks of avocado remaining so it only take a few seconds to mix this.

Once the cheese in the quesadillas is melted, remove them from the oven and cut into quarters. Add a spoonful of guacamole to the plate along with a lemon wedge and a few cilantro leaves. We dispense with silverware and eat the quesadillas with our fingers, dipping them into the guacamole - delicious!

We've always found that Mexican restaurants are a good choice for us because there is a good range of vegetarian meals available in every cantina we've been to. But eating out is so expensive these days and yet it's easy to make delicious Mexican meals at home.

Photographs taken in my kitchen and © me.