Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

So, I'm saving wedding updates from this weekend for Wednesday but I thought I would share this recipe from last week. This is not the healthiest recipe I've ever made by any means but it is really delicious and it's getting Brad to branch out from his food comfort zone. Plus, pretty much anything you can make at home is healthier than eating out.

Last week I made Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas that I found in Ree Drummond's cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier. I'm being totally honest with you when I say I'm not the biggest fan of the Pioneer Woman's new show on the Food Network. I'm actually not a fan at all. I'm not so sure that she has the personality for TV but her cookbook and blog are killin' it. You can find the full quesadilla recipe in both her cookbook and on her blog here.

I used all the same ingredients that she did, however, I changed the way that I cooked and assembled the ingredients. When you live in an apartment and are not allowed a real grill, sometimes grilling on the George Foreman takes some work.

So, here's how I altered the cooking and I apologize that she is about a 1000x better at food photography than I am. Also, I made this for two people and we still had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:
6 whole Flour Tortillas (I used soft taco size)
Butter or Margarine
1 ( oz.) can Sliced Pineapple
1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Salt and Pepper to taste
About 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 whole Jalapeno, diced and deseeded
3 tbsp Barbeque Sauce
Sour Cream (Optional)

I started by grilling the sliced pineapple on the Foreman Grill, after it had grilled to its fake grilling perfection, I sliced each piece into quarters to use on the quesadillas. I decided to use canned pineapple instead of fresh pineapple or pineapple chunks because that just doesn't fit my tiny little grill very well. (I've made these before with fresh pineapple and if you have that option available to you, I'd recommend that over canned.)

 



I also decided to de-seed and dice the jalapenos. The first time I made these quesadillas I followed her recipe exactly, with jalapeno slices, and I felt that based on the way I assembled them, the jalapeno ended up being in just one bite and not in multiple bites. That's a bit too spicy for the two of us. I prefer soft heat in every bite, not big heat in just a few bites.

 

 SIDE NOTE: Also, if I can make one suggestion, wear gloves! I cut up this jalapeno without them, like I've done many times, and 1 hour later my fingers were on fire! I ended up taking a Benadryl and holding the freezer stick from a water bottle in my hands until I fell asleep. This is the first time that cutting peppers has bothered me but I'll be making sure it does not happen again.

After I had prepped the pineapple and jalapeno, I put those in the refrigerator until my chicken was done cooking. I salted and peppered each side and grilled on my Foreman before shredding my chicken. I shredded one piece of chicken and it was more than enough for the 3 quesadillas I made.

After cooking and shredding the chicken, I started assembling. Each quesadilla needed two tortillas. I put a small base layer of cheese on one tortilla, then stacked 1/3 of the shredded chicken, 1/3 of the grilled and quartered pineapple, and 1/3 of the diced jalapenos. I tried to space everything out so that all the flavors were in each bite. I then drizzled BBQ sauce over the ingredients, topped with a little more cheese and the second tortilla. You then put the entire quesadilla in a skillet that has about a tablespoon of melted butter spread evenly over the bottom of the skillet. When the first side has browned evenly, you flip the quesadilla until it has browned and then I used a pizza cutter to cut it into quarters.

 

You can serve it up with sour cream if you'd like. Believe it or not it's not a bad combo with the chicken, pineapple, and BBQ sauce. I promise these are delicious and you won't regret making them. If you don't believe my terrible pictures then at least check out her blog.