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Turkey Tex-Mex Sloppy Joe Quesadillas & Calphalon GIVEAWAY

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sloppyjoequesadillas

Well, HELLO JULY! So many wonderful things going on this month: July 4th, my best friend’s wedding (OMG…hope my bridesmaid dress still fits after the 4th haha!)…well, that’s basically it. However, those are two HUGE events to me. I love the 4th of July. LOVE. The fireworks, the smell of the grills going crazy in our neighborhood and celebrating the holiday with All-American classic dishes. It’s just great. I’m pretty sure I wake up on July 4th craving food from the grill. Wonder if my husband would grill breakfast for me….LOL!

One of my favorite All-American dishes is sloppy joes. My Mom used to make sloppy joes a lot when we were kids, and the klutzy person in me loves the fact that the food is naturally sloppy. Whenever I go out to eat, I end up with a line of food around my plate. I’m not a neat eater at all. I’m sort of a disaster in public…I’m surprised people take me anywhere. Any food that says it’s sloppy means no judgement if I make a mess, right? Right.

Since most 4th of July parties revolve around grilled meats for the entree, I figured I’d make this classic dish into an appetizer. I made the sloppy joes with tex-mex flavors, adding in a healthier twist (using ground turkey) and made them into quesadillas. These quesadillas are full of flavor, and you’d never guess that they were lower in calories than the original. Another wonderful thing about these appetizers is that you don’t need to clear ANY space on the grill. Nope. I made these indoors using the Calphalon Unison Non-Stick 3 quart saute pan.

While we’ve only had this saute pan in our kitchen for a short time, I have to admit that I already love this pan. It’s a staple in our kitchen, because it’s the perfect size to cook dinner for 2 (or 4, if we want leftovers). I can stir ingredients around without worrying about making a mess, and I can also cook with little to no oil (since I’m cooking on a non-stick surface). It’s also dishwasher safe, so clean-up for this pan is a breeze! One less thing to hand wash? Heck yes!

For this recipe, you can make the sloppy joes in the saute pan, move the cooked sloppy joes to a bowl and re-use the same (wiped clean) pan to assemble/cook the quesadillas! It’s a versatile piece of cookware that is just a delight to cook with in the kitchen.

The wonderful people at Calphalon are generously offering a Calphalon Unison Non-Stick 3 quart saute pan to giveaway to a lucky Nifty Foodie reader!

Calphalon Pan

To enter:
Tell me what’s the first thing you’d cook in this saute pan?

For additional entries (leave a comment for each entry, letting me know that you did these):

  • Follow Calphalon on Twitter
  • Follow The Nifty Foodie on Twitter
  • Like Calphalon on Facebook
  • Like The Nifty Foodie on Facebook
  • Follow Calphalon on Pinterest
  • Follow The Nifty Foodie on Pinterest
  • Tweet the following “I just entered to win a @Calphalon Unison 3 qt. saute pan on @niftyfoodie! http://bit.ly/15b9rzw #giveaway” and comment with the link to the tweet.
  • Subscribe to The Nifty Foodie via RSS

CONGRATS to commenter #188: Biggles209, who liked Calphalon on FB! You have 48 hours to respond to the email I sent you! 🙂

Note: This giveaway is open to readers in the continental US only. Entries will be accepted until July 19th at 11:59pm (central standard time). Winner will be emailed (make sure you leave an email address in the comment form), and will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

By the way, check out my guest blog over on Calphalon’s site. I’m so thrilled to be featured on their site!

Disclaimer: I was sent this saute pan from Calphalon for a fair and honest review. All opinions are 100% my own. Calphalon is also supplying a saute pan for the giveaway.

Tex-Mex Sloppy Joe Quesadillas
Source: Nifty Foodie Original

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp. canola oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 can Rotel
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 3/4 tsp. chili powder
  • 8 oz. can tomato sauce
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • whole wheat (soft taco size) flour tortillas

Directions:

  1. Add the oil to a saute pan, and heat the oil over medium heat, until the pan is heated. Add your onion, and cook the onion, stirring as it cooks, until it’s translucent (about 5 minutes). Add in the Rotel and garlic, stir and cook another five minutes. Remove everything from the pan into a bowl.
  2. Brown the lean turkey in the saute pan and add in the cumin and chili powder as it’s cooking. When it’s fully cooked, add the vegetables back into the pan.
  3. Add the tomato sauce to the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes on medium-low. Taste to see if you need to add any salt and pepper to the dish, and add it at this time. Cook on low until most of the liquid has cooked down, another 5-10 minutes.
  4. Move the cooked sloppy joes to a bowl, let your saute pan cool a bit, and then wipe it down with a paper towel. (If you feel like you need to wash it, only do so once the pan has cooled completely down.) Pre-heat the saute pan (on medium heat), and place a whole wheat tortilla on it. Sprinkle some cheese on the tortilla, and when it starts melting, add about 1/3 cup of the sloppy joe mixture on top, lightly spreading it to cover the tortilla. Cover the sloppy joes with more cheese and then, another tortilla (like you’re making a sandwich). Then, carefully flip the whole quesadilla over to cook the other side. Let the other tortilla cook for another couple of minutes (checking often, to make sure it doesn’t burn). Once both sides are cooked, remove from heat, and cut into triangles. Continue to make them until you have enough for your party (these sloppy joes go a LONG way with the quesadillas).
  5. Serve immediately with salsa, guacamole, queso and/or sour cream. Enjoy!

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I’d make a stir fry in this pan – I’m always trying to use up leftover veggies. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Reply

  5. I love Calphalon’s stuff – always very high quality. I would cook some scallops in that pan. They look so good on the box!

    Reply

  11. First: YUM! These quesadillas look totally stellar. If I won this pan, the first thing I’d whip up is probably some filling for stuffed peppers – I’ve been craving them lately!

    Reply

  36. Yum! The quesadillas look amazing! I’m a huge fan of 4th of July food too and YAY for your best friend’s wedding!

    My mom has a non stick Calphalon pan and I’ve had mega pan envy. The first thing I would make in it is risotto! Or taco meat. Or chicken alfredo. I pretty much want to make everything in it!

    Reply

  70. Love quesadillas and love sloppy Joe so would definitely break in the sauté pan by making this tummy dish.

    Reply

  80. Those look delicious! I think I would make some pan seared broccoli, served with grilled tofu and a chile-lime sauce.

    Reply

  111. I would make sauted veggies from my garden -onion garlic zucchini yellow squash peppers fresh herbs and parmesan cheese.

    Reply

  154. I think I would cook a nice piece of salmon. My husband claims I am now an expert at cooking salmon and it requires a lid.

    Reply

  177. Well, I was following through Google Reader but that sadly went away so now it’s Feedly! That’s RSS, right?

    Reply

  200. I’d probably do some chicken and or beef strips with onion and green pepper so I can make homemade fajitas

    Reply

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