Salsa Fest: BBQ Chicken Quesadilla with Mango Avocado Lime Salsa

Every year in Calgary they have a summer event called the Sun and Salsa Festival where stores along the Kensington area participate by making their own versions of salsa for people to try as well as vote for their favorite. I helped participate in it when I was working at Crave at the time and man did I learn a lesson the hard way…! I was helping fine dice a massive amount of jalapenos needed for the salsa (I’m talking a huge buckets worth) and started off wearing rubber gloves, but they were getting in my way, so I took them off so I could chop faster. 10 minutes later I said to a colleague who was helping, boy my hand feels funny, how bout yours? She replied, yea it’s feeling a bit tingly…we finished and started cleaning up and by then the tingling turned into burning! We tried scrubbing with salt, soap and water (which of course made it worse, letting the oils from the peppers spread even more!) then I remembered you're supposed to drink milk if you eat something spicy so we tried dunking our hands in a cup of milk, well that didn’t work! Driving home it felt like my hand was on fire and by night I was sitting in a drop in clinic to see what the doctor could do for me. (I swear I usually have a high tolerance for pain!). Have you ever ate something so damn hot there’s nothing you can do but wait it out? Well that’s what he told me I had to do, just waait it out…2 days later the burning went away!! All I can say is at least we won that darn contest!! (Okay to counter my stupidity I have chopped jalapenos before with no side effects, just not a big buckets worth!). Last nights dinner involved a different salsa, more of a sweet salsa using mango's and avocado's that I thought would pair well with a BBQ chicken quesadilla using ground flax seed tortillas, "sour cream" aka thickened plain yogurt and a mixed field green salad with feta, toasted pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette. Careful with those jalapenos!


BBQ Chicken Quesadilla with Mango Avocado Lime Salsa

2 ground flax seed soft tortilla

1 chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup fresh corn kernels (or canned)

1/2 red pepper, diced

3 green onions

1/4 cup favorite bbq sauce

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1.Saute chicken until almost cooked through, add in red peppers and cook until softened. Take off heat and add green onions and bbq sauce.
2. In a pan add a little oil and heat on med-low. Place tortilla in pan and on 1/2 the tortilla place chicken mixture and cheese. Fold over. Pan fry until golden and flip and crisp the other side. Serve warm

Mango Avocado Lime Salsa
1 mango, small dice
1 avocado, small dice
3 tbsp onion (red or white), small dice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juice only
2 tsp honey
1/2 jalapeno (optional)
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (optional, but adds a bit of smokiness)
s+p

Sour Cream
3 cups plain yogurt

1.Place yogurt in a strainer that has been lined with paper towel or a coffee filter and place over a bowl.
2.Let sit in the fridge to drain the liquid and become thick, at least 1 hr.