Rosie Prepares A Lovely Lunch - Shrimp And Spinach Quesadilla.

I'm trying to get rid of leftovers in my fridge, so today I found some leftover bagged spinach and the shrimp Mr. Hawthorne had cooked last night. And I have a plan. Shrimp and spinach quesadilla.

Here's my bag of Fresh Express spinach.

And notice that the spinach is Thoroughly Washed and Ready to Eat!

Here are the nutrition facts. Hmmm. Notice there's no mention of any type of protein.

And also notice my spinach is thoroughly cleaned having been Hydro-Jet Washed. And BRRRR, my spinach has been kept cold all the way to the store. Again, it's been Washed and is Ready to Eat.

And the only ingredient mentioned is spinach. If it appears Rosie is meandering here and possibly leading up to something, then, yes, she is. Now what would that be? I poured the spinach into my colander to rinse off, even though it had already been turbo-hydro jet washed and ... ...... Drum roll please........ And | | | scroll | | | down. | | |

And guess what? Anasa tristis is in my spinach. Although a very clean and cold anasa tristis, also known as a squash bug. It's very nice to know what the newly hatched squash bugs look like, since I've seen them in my garden and never knew what they were.

Yes, he was alive, but moving very slowly. And remember, that was FRESH EXPRESS brand, telephone # 1-800-242-5472. Now, on to my shrimp and spinach quesadilla! Rosie is nothing if not a trooper. She's certainly not going to let a little squash bug squash her plans for lunch.

My ingredients: tortilla cheddar and mozzarella cheeses chopped shrimp chopped onions my hydro-jet washed Fresh Express Brand spinach

I covered the tortilla with

Mozzarella cheese and added the spinach leaves to it. By the way, I used Fresh Express brand spinach. And I just emailed the good folks at Fresh Express about my finding a little protein surprise in their product. Hopefully, I can get Fresh Express products for life. As if. God knows, had this happened to Xmaskatie, there would be a freakin' HUGE financial settlement in the works for her emotional distress and suffering. The suits from Fresh Express would be shaking right now on her front porch. And Fresh Express would be sending her bushels of lettuce and spinach weekly for the rest of her life, plus there would be someone from the company with a fine tooth comb to go through and examine every leaf for foreign matter. Plus, she'd have them send her a personal chef to prepare all salad and spinach dishes. And Xmaskatie, you sooo know this is true.

OK, back to my quesadilla. Shrimp and onions went on next.

Then I topped with more Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese.

Thinly sliced tomatoes went on top, with freshly grated pepper and cumin. And I topped with another tortilla. Look how thick this is.

I cooked it in my cast iron skillet in a combination of extra light olive oil and butter, turning each side 90 degrees to get those nice little grill marks.

There's Mr. Hawthorne's corn salsa and my creme fraiche.

This was amazingly thick to begin with. Look how thin it is now. I've ordered shrimp quesadillas at numerous restaurants down here and I've always been disappointed. But ... this ... was delicious. The spinach was good, in spite of Fresh Express. You could taste the onions, the shrimp, the tomatoes and the cumin, and the cheese - well what can I say about the cheese? Cheese is like buttah. It makes everything bettah. The quesadilla was perfectly complemented by the corn salsa and the creme fraiche. Just a very nice melange of flavors, tastes, and textures.

Doesn't this look appealing and appetizing? Visually, it's a lovely dish. Too bad I can't order this at a local restaurant. It's something so simple, but most restaurants would skimp horribly on the shrimp and they just wouldn't put out a quality product. I know. I've had shrimp quesadillas at 3 different places and I'll never order another one. Each one was more disappointing than the last. Sad, I know. But then I can be rather demanding in expecting fresh ingredients and flavorful, quality meals. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I may have to settle for less than the best in other areas over which I have no control, but it ain't happening with the food I eat.