Bean and Cheese Quesadillas with Quick Slaw

Let's Cook

1. 1Step 1

   Tip the black beans into a sieve and rinse under cold water for about 20 seconds, until the grey foam stops rising and the water running through is clear. Shake the sieve hard, then tip the beans into a bowl. Press roughly a third of them against the side of the bowl with a fork until that portion looks streaky and pasty. Stop there — the rest stay whole so the filling has texture.

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   Rinsing matters more than it looks — canned bean liquid is starchy and salty, and it will steam inside the tortilla and soften the crust.

2. 2Step 2

   Put the shredded cabbage in a second bowl, squeeze over all the lime juice, and add a good pinch of salt. Toss and squeeze with your hands for a full 30 seconds. Watch for the change: the cabbage goes from squeaky and stiff to glossy and limp, and the pile shrinks by about a quarter. Taste it. If it reads sharply sour, add another pinch of salt — that pulls the lime forward instead of making it saltier. Set aside.

3. 3Step 3

   Set a large skillet over medium heat, empty, for two minutes. Flick in a few drops of water: they should hiss and vanish within a second or two, not pool. Lay one tortilla flat in the dry pan. Scatter a quarter of the cheese over one half only, spoon a quarter of the bean mixture on top, and keep everything half an inch inside the edge. Fold the bare half over and press down lightly with a spatula.

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   Do not oil the pan. Fat fries the tortilla unevenly and it goes leathery; a dry pan blisters it instead.

4. 4Step 4

   3 min

   Cook 2 to 3 minutes without moving it. It is ready to turn when you can smell toasted flour and the underside, lifted with the spatula, shows deep golden blisters with paler patches between. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. It is done when cheese bubbles at the open folded edge and the quesadilla holds its shape when you lift one corner rather than flopping. Slide onto a board and repeat with the remaining three.

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   If the cheese browns before the tortilla does, your heat is too high. Drop to medium-low for the remaining three.

5. 5Step 5

   Let each quesadilla sit on the board a full minute before cutting so the cheese firms up and stays inside. Cut each into three wedges. Divide between four plates with a heap of lime slaw, and put the guacamole and salsa on the table in bowls for dipping.

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   Cutting straight off the pan is what makes filling spill. One minute of rest is enough for the cheese to set.