Wheat tortillas come together with broccoli, carrots, zucchini, shallots and golden melted cheese to make these visually appealing, taste-bud tickling, strong bones building, nutritious wheat quesadillas! A great kiddie lunch box idea, that will be a sure shot success for mommy and kiddie :).
Ingredients (makes 8 quesadillas):
- Wheat flour (2 cups)
- Salt (to taste)
- Water (1 cup approximately – may vary depending on the flour)
- Ghee (1 tsp)
- Carrots, broccoli, zucchini and/or vegetables of your choice (cut into strips) (2.5 cups)
- Spinach (finely cut) (1 cup)
- Shallots (green onions) (2-3)
- Cumin (jeera) powder (1/2 tsp)
- Coriander (dhaniya) powder (1/2 tsp)
- Fennel (saunf) powder (optional) (1/2 tsp)
- Turmeric (haldi) powder (1/2/ tsp)
- Pepper (1/2 tsp)
- Lemon juice (1 tsp)
- Grated cheese (I used the Trader Joes Mexican Blend of sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, Asadero and Queso Blanco)
Method:
- Make the rotis according to this recipe or if you are using store bought ones, then skip this step.
- Heat ghee in a wok. When it is hot, add the whites of the green onions.
- After a minute or two, add the carrot and broccoli strips. Saute on high for a couple minutes.
- Add the zucchini strips. Saute on high for another couple minutes.
- Add the spinach and greens of onions/shallots. Saute on high for another minute. (The vegetables should retain their crunch and not be too mushy, so cook on high heat for a shorter amount of time).
- Lower the heat, add the spice powders, and salt. Mix well (you could also add chilli sauce, Chipotle sauce or any sauce of your choice, but I chose to omit it!).
- Drizzle the lemon juice.
- Now, open out the roti and spread about a tablespoon of the grated cheese (adjust the quantity according to your personal preference) along half the surface area of the roti.
- Fold the roti into a semicircle and place on tava on low heat.
- Press with a wooden spatula, to expedite the melting of the cheese by trapping the heat within the enclosed roti. Do this for about 30 seconds.
- Open the roti and fill in the vegetable mixture. Close the roti.
- Turn the roti over. Press on the other side as well. Keep on heat for 20 seconds or so.
- Cut into pieces and enjoy!
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (wheat, carrots, broccoli, cheese), sour (cheese, lemon), salty (salt), bitter (spinach, coriander, turmeric), pungent (pepper, shallots, cumin), astringent (turmeric, spinach, shallots).
Doshic Influence:
Wheat is nourishing, heavy, sticky and cooling. It has kapha increasing qualities. Pittas, with strong digestions can digest wheat well. Vatas, with their variable digestive abilities might find wheat hard to digest. Ghee is tridoshic and improves digestion. Cumin is tridoshic, aids in digestion and helps flush toxins from the body. Coriander is also tridoshic, is cooling and is great for digestion. Fennel is cooling, good for digestion, and freshens breath. Turmeric is used in all blood related disorders, especially those due to Pitta and Kapha. Its heat alleviates Vata and Kapha. A large dose aggravates Pitta. Pepper is warming and pungent, relieves kapha and vata, and increases pitta. Cheese is heavy and sticky, so is kapha aggravating, is pitta aggravating due to its sourness and is okay for vatas because of its heavy, grounding qualities. In general though, from an Ayurvedic perspective, cheese is considered a processed, preservative laden food, that is best avoided. Using it once in a while, should be okay, especially for growing kids. Overall, this dish is okay for all doshas. Kaphas may consume it in moderation, due to the addition of the digestive spices.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Overall, this can easily turn into a tamasic dish, due to the heavy ingredients like wheat, cheese, oil etc. But the addition of digestive spices reduce tamas. Furthermore, adding sattvic, tridoshic spices can somewhat increase the sattva of this dish, especially, if fresh ingredients are used, and moderate amounts of cheese are used.