Healthy Cooking for Dummies: Mexican Night- Chicken Quesadilla with Roasted Corn

Nutrition Facts (as I have prepared): 351 calories, 29.5 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 6 g sugars, and 32.5 g protein.

My key focus (and possibly struggle) with dinner tonight was to keep the cheese in a supporting role versus a starring role (ugh, but I love cheese so much)! Anyways, that is the key to keeping the calorie count down with this meal, along with some simple substitutions. Another thing I can't stress enough is that this is a perfect opportunity to load on the veggies! I used what I like and what I have at home, but many more veggies (spinach, tomatoes, peppers, whatever!) could easily be added or substituted.

So, I started by grilling some chicken (I prefer cutlets because of how lean they are)... you can also save calories by using dry spices to season instead of a liquid marinade...

While those were grilling, I started "roasting" the corn. When I say roasting, all this is is putting it into a skillet on medium-high to high heat and browning. No oils, no butters, nothing extra needed and this will help really bring out the natural flavoring of the corn. I used canned corn (no salt added)- drained, but you could take it off of the cob also.

Leave it without stirring for 2-3 minutes so it can get nice and brown and then you can stir...

It takes about 5 minutes total to finish. I wont use the whole can tonight.

Then in the same pan I browned some onions (again, no extra butter, oil, etc)...

Reduce the heat on the burner to medium-low. Empty the skillet, then put a tortilla in...

And start filling....

Veggies, then chicken...

Then cheese... remember, not too much! A little goes a long way (I didn't believe it at first either). I just used a simple Mexican blend...

Since everything's already cooked, it's just a matter of getting the tortilla a little crispy and melting the cheese... about two minutes. Then fold it over. I flipped it once, with tongs, for good measure.

The first one got a little crispier than the second one, lesson learned: medium-low heat. Then, I skipped on what would usually be sour cream, and topped it with delicious 10 calorie salsa (giving it even more veggie goodness).