As the queen of allergies, it can be really hard to find food to eat, and tasty food on top of that! I’m not a master chef by any means and most days I’m afraid to even go near the kitchen. However, I once was so desperate for some salsa and quesadillas that I came up with this crock pot recipe. I’m incredibly proud of it, especially since my chef husband loves it too! It’s not easy being a chef wife and trying to cook something, especially when you aren’t confident stepping into a kitchen to begin with. He’s always begging for me to make this recipe though.
Originally, I made these for us with chicken and corn tortillas (I’m celiac!). However, after having my son, I developed an allergy to chicken and corn and stopped making them. Thanks to the wonderful progress of gluten-free alternatives, I discovered chickpea tortillas at the supermarket the other day and we were pleasantly surprised with how good they are! I’m not just saying that as a health food nut either. I normally hate all of the weird sounding stuff but trust me, these are actually good. I also substituted the chicken for turkey this time around, although my husband convinced me to get turkey drumsticks…I would not recommend them – definitely go with boneless. The meat tasted delicious but it was truly a pain to remove the meat from the bones straight out of the crockpot. I created my bell pepper free salsa recipe years back as well because I LOVE salsa and I’m sadly allergic to bell peppers. With that said, the taco seasoning is also free from any pepper.
Crock Pot Quesadilla Recipe
Makes: 6 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5-6 hours on low, 3.5-4 hours on high
Ingredients
- 2 lbs skinless boneless chicken (substitute turkey)
- 1 cup chicken broth (substitute vegetable broth if allergic to chicken)
- 1 tbsp ground cilantro
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp Homemade Taco Seasoning (recipe below)
- 1/2 cup Pepper Free Salsa (recipe below)
- 12 chickpea tortilla sheets (or 2 sheets per quesadilla)
- 1 cup of Mexican cheese
- Cooking spray or oil
Directions
- Combine the chicken, broth, cilantro, salt, taco seasoning, and salsa in your Crock Pot. Give it a stir and and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until fully cooked and tender. Cook on high for 3.5-4 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker. Drain it and shred it.
- Pre-spray the outside of the tortilla with a non-stick cooking spray or any oil. Place approx. 1/2 cup of meat and at least 1/2 cup of cheese on a tortilla. Add more cheese based on liking.
- Top the tortilla with a second tortilla and spray cooking spray on the outside.
- Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until it is toasted on the outside.
- Cut in half and serve.
Pepper Free Salsa Recipe
Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 cup sliced purple onion
- 2 limes
- 1 handful of cilantro
- 1 handful of watercress
- 3 radishes
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp agave nectar or 1/2 tbsp of honey
- sprinkle salt
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, squeeze 1-2 limes until the juice is all in the bowl. Dice up onion and drop them into the bowl. Mix together and let the onion soak in the juice.
- Dice tomatoes and add the the tomatoes and the juice to the mixing bowl.
- Finely chop cilantro and watercress and add to bowl.
- Dice radishes and add to bowl.
- Mix well. Pour vinegar and agave nectar (or honey) into bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix thoroughly.
- Store in refrigerator and allow flavors to soak together for at least 30 minutes.
Homemade Taco Seasoning
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup cumin
- 1/4 cup sea salt
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano