30 Minute Kimchi Bean Quesadillas

Ferments are lots of fun. I love fermented food. I mean, there's a pungent smell in here, and it's not me, I promise. This kimchi makes me so happy. Well, we're making a kimchi and bean quesadilla. Yum. So that will make you happy because you love a toasty scenario. Yeah. Can you chop up a little bit of the red onion for me? Don't need too much. We're going to get four quesadillas out of this, so top and bottom, as in four. So you'll need eight tortilla for this recipe. And I've got a bowl of mixed beans here, so you've got lovely sources of fibre in this recipe too. Oh, nice. So I really love the variety that you get from a tin of mixed beans or a bag of mixed beans, however you want to go about it. We're going to crank the heat up on the pan and get our onions straight into the pan and cooking off for around three minutes or until it's translucent. Crank it. Get some olive oil from you when you're ready. Oh, there you go. Thank you. And then the kimchi, you can really smell it's pungent. Stings the nostrils. It does sting the nostrils. We'll get this onion into the pan. Now, we're actually cooking with our ferments today. So to be honest, you don't get as many of the beneficial effects of the live cultures once you cook them because live cultures don't love heat. That's why we see things like kombucha, kimchi, yogurt sitting in the fridge, for instance. See, I didn't realise that. Yeah. But that's why it's important to have them in there so you can incorporate them in other ways into your diet. So a little bit of yogurt each day, a night before bed's a nice one. Having a glass of kombucha as you prep dinner instead of your wine, for instance, or your G&T at night is a really great substitute because you get that lovely tart fermented fizz that's coming from the kombucha, which is just black and green tea fermented. And then of course, you know, your sauerkraut and your kimchi, you can throw into any meal, mostly. Oh, for sure, yeah. Except, like, yogurt and granola are a brickie. But, like, you know, there's a few ways you can incorporate them into meals so that they sit raw and you get those beautiful beneficial effects for your gut microbiome. One of my favourite meals when I can't be bothered cooking but I just need something, obviously, I love toasties. I run a toastie business. It's just a kimchi and cheese toastie. Oh, yummy. Just some sharp cheddar with some kimchi. So good. Oh, this is right up your alley. Oh, yeah. So Tim's grating some vintage cheddar. So you get that nice bitiness to it. And I also have a mozzarella. So there's a real contrast, but you get the nice cheesy gooeyness, creamy. It's probably not as much cheese as Tim would like. Let's be honest. So the onions are where we'd like them. Translucent, little bit of golden. Nice. We're going to add in our mixed beans. And keep that bowl because we'll need it. Don't be so efficient. I'll clean up. It's the beauty of having someone in the kitchen with you. So we're going to have these in the pan for three to four minutes. And that's essentially just to warm these ingredients through. The beans are already cooked, the kimchi is prepped. We just want to make sure that when we bite into our quesadilla later, when it's cooked, we're not getting this contrast of cold with the gooey cheese. These are good. So we're going to whack them back in our bowl. And then get in there and just kind of roughly mash things. Okay. So that our beans aren't falling out when we bite into our quesadilla. That's a good idea. There we go. And you could, of course, make your own tortilla too. Oh, sure. If you had the time. If you've got the time. We're cheating things through today. Yeah. Making something tasty with really on-hand staples. Even just folding some tinned tuna through this would be really nice for a quick, quick, delicious, healthy lunch as well. Yeah. All right. I'm pretty happy with that. They're not all completely mashed, but they're mashed enough to sort of emulsify with the kimchi. Okay. So then we will lay out our tortilla. I have eight small tortilla here. And then we can fill on one side, save the other for a lid. Oh, actually, we'll just go like that now. Yeah. Like this. Okay. And we're going to get, spoon please, mate. Yep. Get a little bit of the bean and kimchi mix into the middle. And then you can go in with, I like a fair hit of coriander. Okay. I appreciate coriander as a divisive herb. Yeah. But it's Mexican. Well, Mexican fusion with our kimchi. So I like a decent whack of coriander. And you want to leave a little bit of space around the edge. As you can see, there's a little border around each of the tortilla so that when you get them into the pan and you've got the cheese and you press them down, there's a little bit of space for them to move out. And then if you can go portioning out each of the cheeses on top too, this is where you're, it's your moment to shine. This is where I come alive. Timbona cheese. Give me the cheese. So a great little one to warm up too, I think, if you're having maybe friends over for Mexican, you're having a few drinks, having a kombucha, getting a fermenting with your Mexican style instead of a margarita, you have a kombucha, of course. Oh yeah, I have a kombucha to match in with the fermented. I like it. You're like spicy margarita. Nutritionist versus bad chef. Oh yeah, don't forget the cori. Never. And then we'll get this pan heating up, ready to pop our quesadilla in to cook. Maybe a little bit of salt and pepper in each too would just nail the seasoning. I would literally just fold that up right now and get stuck in, but it's not over yet. No. The best is still to come. That's it. It's not over until we see all that beautiful oozing cheese. Okay, then our quesadilla lids. Thanks kindly. One, two, three, four. Ready to make some quesadilla magic happen. Yes. All right, little bit of oil in the pan, not too much. I'm gonna try and get two in if I can. Might be a tight squeeze, but I'm too impatient when I want to have a snack with someone to wait and cook for it. Hey, I made it happen. That'll work. There we go. And then a bit of weight. You don't have to. It just kind of helps press things in a little bit. Oh, nice. And then we're gonna cook those for about four or five minutes on one side, flip, do another few minutes on the other side. This is a good looking quesadilla. Oh, I'm excited. Quesadilla time. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro. So we're gonna slice these into some nice little tasters. Let's go quarters, I think. Okay. What? They're still oozing. Yeah. Gotta be confident in your cut. That's right. There we go, nice little bit of oozy kimchi and bean quesadilla. Let's bring our little serving plate over and get them straight in there. And then if you wanted to serve it up with a bit of Tabasco or something like that on the side, you could. I don't know. I reckon they're pretty awesome as they are. You can make a bit of a pico de gallo or guac if you wanted. Yeah, yum. Nice new way to think about how you use your foments in foods that you're already in love. Because who doesn't love Mexican? Honestly. I'm gonna sneak the last one in. Tim's salivating here. I really am. I'm just thinking like for at home, I'm so inspired by you and Joe with what you come up with. Because sometimes as a busy family, you get stuck cooking the same things over and over again for your quick midweek meals. But something like this, you could whip up on a Wednesday night in no time at all. I think my boys would turn up their nose about the kimchi, but you can just have that. You can have it on the side or mix up the fillings or have ours and do some for the kids, but. That's it. It's awesome. Okay, I'm gonna finish with a little bit of coriander, fresh coriander on the top just to garnish. Few little leaves to make it pretty. And I'm not gonna lie, I do love a little sprinkle of salt over the top of my toasty quesadilla. I do. Salt is not a bad thing. It's nice to have salt in your diet. And this is a great way to enjoy your ferments differently. There we go. Delicious. So, kimchi quesadilla. Crack your spicy margarita. I'm gonna crack my fermented kombucha. Bite into one of them. You're on. Yum. That's sensational. I think the kimchi pairs well with the gooeyness and the meltiness of the cheese. And like you said, that kimchi's got so much flavour. You don't need any spices in there. No, you don't. It really does just hero itself in this. And it's a really simple way to use up probably foods that you have in your pantry. Kimchi in the fridge. Easy.