Lightning BBQ Black Bean Quesadillas

One of my favorite, "lightning fast" and delicious recipes! Whip these quesadillas up after a long day at work or for a lazy lunch; you decide and make them your own! I've written this recipe with no assigned measurements, as ingredient ratio and quantity is up to you. Pictures coming soon.

Ingredients:
mushrooms
yellow pepper
onions
frozen or canned corn
any brand barbecue sauce
any Mexican shredded cheese blend
any size soft tortillas
canned black beans
vegetable oil
salsa (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Instructions:
1) Open the can of black beans and pour into a strainer. Rinse beans until they are free of the sauce in which they are canned. Set aside.
2) Saute desired amounts of chopped yellow pepper, onion, corn and mushrooms in a medium-sized pan until preferred tenderness. (If you are using frozen corn, make sure it gets warm enough in the pan.) Add barbecue sauce in relatively small amounts (it's has a strong flavor), and saute for 1 more minute, or until sauce is evenly blended amongst the vegetables.
3) Add black beans proportionate to amount of vegetables to the bbq veggie pan and stir.
4) In a large pan (can be smaller depending on size of tortilla), add 2 Tbs of vegetable oil and spread evenly to coat pan
5) On low-medium heat, place tortilla in pan and add desired amounts of veggie mixture to one half of the tortilla. Finish with a generous layer of shredded cheese and fold the side with no ingredients over to make half a circle.
*HINT: leave room at the edge of the tortilla when adding ingredients, so that when you flip the quesadilla, nothing falls out**
6) Cook on low-medium heat until one side is golden brown and flip to cook other side. Before you flip, lift the quesadilla off the pan with a spatula, and add more veggie oil if needed.
7) Once both sides are golden brown, slide onto a place and cut into sections.

Make as many as you want and enjoy with your favorite side dish or topping! Want to mix it up? Try using teryaki sauce instead of barbecue!

Never Boring Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Hey everyone! My baked eggplant parmesan is a favorite of my fiance and will become one of yours as well! Forget bland, over-filling and fried, this dish is super-healthy and full of flavor. With a little practice it's quick to make, and totally open to improvisation! Don't be afraid to experiment!

serves 2-3
Ingredients:
*1 roll Ritz crackers
*1 container Italian Style Progresso Bread Crumbs (any other kind will do!)
*1 - 2 eggs 2 good-sized cloves garlic
*2 small eggplants
*1 box angel hair pasta
*1 jar tomato sauce olive oil
*Any brand of Italian Seasoning-herb mix
*salt
*pepper

Instructions:
1) Using either a vegetable peeler or a knife, remove the skin from each eggplant.
2) Cut each eggplant into slices about a half an inch thick.
3) Take a small plate and line it with paper towels, then place 1 slice of eggplant in the center. Use another small plate to "sandwich" the eggplant slice in the middle, then apply pressure to the top plate (so you are squishing the eggplant.) This helps to remove excess moisture from the eggplant, so it's not too mushy after it is baked. Repeat process on all slices of eggplant. *you might not notice a lot of moisture leak out from your eggplant slices, but you'll notice a big difference in your finished product!
4) Setting your newly "sandwiched" eggplant slices aside, crack and scramble 1 egg into a small bowl and set aside. (depending on how many eggplant slices you end up with, 2 eggs might be required)
5) Remove Ritz crackers from the sleeve and place into a plastic bag, then seal the bag. Use your hands to crumble the crackers into a fine breading within the bag, and then pour into a medium sized bowl.
6) Add about 3/4 cup of Progresso bread crumbs to the Ritz crumbles. Be sure to mix them together well! Season with Italian herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.
7) Remove the skin from 2 cloves of garlic, and using an electric chopper (or a good knife if you are patient and without a chopper), chop garlic into very small bits.
8) Add the chopped garlic to the breadcrumb mixture and mix well.
**Checkpoint: At this point, you should have your pressed eggplant slices, the bowl of egg, and the bowl of breading/garlic mixture**
9) Put on the water on low-medium to boil for the noodles (you'll use about a half a box, depending on desired portions), and put the sauce on low in a small pot. (if you're in a hurry, you can microwave the sauce), don't forget to stir!
10) Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and coat LIGHTLY with olive oil. Be sure to keep this close to your other ingredients, for easy, no-mess transportation of the eggplant to the cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 375.
11) Using a fork, spear an eggplant slice and dip it into the bowl of egg, making sure that each side is well coated.
12) Remove the eggplant slice from the egg and put it into the bowl of breading. Using the fork, employ a "coat-and-pat" method to bread your eggplant, first covering one side of the eggplant with breadcrumbs, then patting them to help the crumbs stick. Repeat this process per side, and per slice of eggplant, placing each finished slice onto the lined cookie sheet.
13) Drizzle the top of each breaded eggplant slice with olive oil and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (bake to a deeper brown for more crunch).
14) By the time you are sliding your eggplant into the oven, the water should be boiling, and you can cook the noodles. If the noodles are done before the eggplant, just strain and set aside.
15) When the eggplants are the desired color, let stand 5 minutes, and serve. I personally like to arrange the eggplant slices on one half of the plate, and put the spaghetti and sauce on the other side.
ENJOY!

Too Lazy for a Cookbook

My fiance has been telling me to write down my recipes and makes a book, but honestly, I am way too lazy! Perhaps that I will in the future, but right now I'm an on-the-go college student and really don't have the time. And so, The Edgy Veggie is born!!

Be on the lookout for new, affordable, easy recipes that my friends and family have fallen in love with! Best of all, they are all vegetarian.

Thanks!!

-j