Shrimp, Mushroom and Onion Quesadillas

By Paul Briand

Continuing from last week's exploration of recipes in a new diet that I'm testing out, this quesadilla recipe caught my interest.

I liked what the new book "Flat Belly Diet! For Men" did with the shrimp in this recipe, draping it with onion, mushroom and cheese -- how can you have a quesadilla recipe without cheese?

Yet it still falls within the Flat Belly parameters of not going overboard with calories (this has 401 calories per serving). And it has a so-called MUFA -- monounsaturated fatty acids -- which the Flat Belly diet champions as being an aid to overall good health and a flat belly. The MUFA in this case is the olive oil.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
12 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp (I bought mine precooked and frozen)
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 8-ounce package of mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 7-inch flour tortillas
2 ounces shredded reduced fat Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat;
2. Sprinkle the shrimp with chili powder and 1/8 teaspoon salt and add to the skillet, cooking 2-3 minutes until opaque. Transfer to a plate and reserve;
3. Add remaining oil and cook the onions and oregano until the onions soften;
4. Add the mushrooms and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook until the mushrooms start to brown;
5. Stir in the garlic and cook about 2 minutes;
6. Transfer entire mixture to a bowl and reserve;
7. Arrange tortillas on a work surface and build the quesadilla on one half of the tortilla -- add some cheese, then onion/mushroom mixture, then shrimp, then some more cheese;
8. Fold the tortilla over to form a semi-circle;
9. Repeat with three remaining tortillas;
10. Heat tortillas two at a time in the skillet until lightly browned and the cheese is melted;
11. Transfer to a cutting board and cut each tortilla in two.

You end up with eight pieces. The hard part, since it's so good, is not overdo it by two or three of these bad boys at one sitting.