Outsmarting Food Quirks: Black Bean and Banana Quesadillas

Every kid has their food quirks – I’ve been a mom for a short 10 months and I already know this to be true.  And just to complicate things, the quirks change without notice.  Sweet D ate all of her veggies without resistance until suddenly thanks but no thanks.  Typical.

To navigate these quirks, every parent has their tricks.  I asked a few friends who have toddlers about their kids’ quirks and how they deal with them – more than one person told me that their kid would eat almost anything if they just put it in a quesadilla.  Kiddo doesn’t eat spinach; eats a spinach quesadilla.  I’ll admit, I laughed out loud upon hearing this… more than once.

Sweet D isn’t quite at the quesadilla stage yet, but I already have one good trick up my sleeve.  She loves banana; LOVES banana.  So when introducing something new fails, I just mix in a little banana.

Plain Yogurt + Blueberry puree = FAIL

Plain Yogurt + Blueberry puree + Banana = WIN

It has worked almost every time I’ve tried it.  Eventually I ditch the banana and we’re good to go with the new food.

I came up with this recipe after a coworker made amazing black bean and banana empanadas for an office pot luck.  With a few additions I’ve got a dish that has my banana trick and my friends’ quesadilla trick for the kiddos and a delicious dish for mom and dad too.  Plus, they’re healthy!  You know how I love that.

(You may think the addition of banana here is weird – it isn’t.  Trust me.  The flavors work great together; bananas are from Central America and these are Central American flavors.  It isn’t weird at all!)

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked black beans (you can used canned or cooked dried beans – if you use canned, be sure to rinse all that sodium off)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced – I used a cube of my frozen roasted garlic
• 2 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp coriander
• Cilantro to taste – I love cilantro so I used a lot
• Cayenne pepper to taste – I left this out since I was planning to give it to Sweet D
• Salt and pepper to taste – I left the salt out for Sweet D
• Olive oil or canola oil
• Avocado and your favorite salsa – optional
• Whole Wheat tortillas

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 450

Heat a pan over medium heat.  Add some oil to the pan.  Sauté the onion until it is soft and sweet.  Add the garlic and be careful not to let it burn!  Sauté until you can smell the yummy garlicness.  Keep it moving so it doesn’t burn… this is serious!  Burnt garlic will ruin a dish.

Add the tomatoes and the spices.  Sauté about 1-2 minutes until it is nice and fragrant.  Chop the banana and add to the dish.  If your banana is super ripe, squish it with a fork as you stir.  I used my potato masher to squish it all together.  Once it is all combined, add the beans.  Taste.  Is it good?  Need something else?  Adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Take ¼ of an avocado and spread onto a tortilla.  Add some of the filling.  Spread the other ¼ of the avocado on another tortilla and put it on top of the filling to make the quesadilla.

Put the quesadillas on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 10 minutes just so the tortillas get crispy.

Slice with a large sharp knife or a pizza cutter.  Top with your favorite salsa and serve!

These quesadillas were delicious!  Loaded with flavor!  Savory from all the spices with a punch of sweetness from the banana. Add other veggies or even meat and cheese if that’s what your family likes.  This recipe is super easy to adapt.

As delicious as these were, I will admit… the filling wasn’t a hit with Sweet D.  This was the ONLY time my banana trick failed.  Oh well.  We loved it.  Too bad for her.