It amuses me to say that the best quesadilla I ever had was in Hawaii, and it’s even stranger to tell you that that quesadilla was had in the Honolulu airport (at Stinger Ray’s)!

For Mexican Monday I decided to attempt a recreation of this quesadilla. What I loved most about it was a back note of lime and the inclusion of corn in the filling. I didn’t succeed in a perfect copy cat recipe with my first attempt, but it was fun to do more with a quesadilla than stuff it with leftovers!

I marinated the chicken with chipotle and lime, sliced it and cooked it fajita style for extra flavor. I then sauteed the corn, onion, and pepper salsa with chili powder in the same skillet. For a kiss of heat I sliced open a serrano pepper (which Stuart purposefully ate!).

I actually prepared extra chicken and made rice to take to lunch the next day.

Corn Pepper Salsa Chicken Quesadilla

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• zest of 1 lime
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp corriander
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced chipotle pepper in adobo
• 1/3 C olive oil
• 1 C frozen corn, thawed
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 C diced onion
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 serrano pepper, halved
• 4 flour tortillas
• 2 C shredded Mexican cheese

Steps:

1. Combine lime, corriander, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, chipotle, S+P, and olive oil. Marinate chicken at least 4 hours.
2. Slice chicken. Saute chicken over medium-high heat in a large skillet in olive oil until cooked through.
3. In the same skillet, cook the remaining ingredients. Deglaze the pan with a splash of chicken stock if desired.
4. In a separate non-stick skillet, place tortilla and cover entire surface with cheese. On one half top with chicken and salsa. Fold the cheese-only half over the chicken. Flip until both sides are lightly golden and crispy. Serve with your favorite salsa and sour cream.