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Fast & easy dessert anyone can make!  By using store bought muffins and any fresh (or frozen) berries you can dazzle your room mates or guests with this scrumptious offering

Bean & Cheese Quesadilla Recipe (for 1 quesadilla)

• Tortilla, 12″ – 2 each
• Cheese, your choice – ½ cup
• Black beans, canned, drained – ½ cup
• Cilantro, minced – 1 Tablespoon
• Lime juice, fresh  – ¼ lime
• Salsa (optional, but recommended) – 2 Tablespoons
• Oil, as needed

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A friend has a massive blackberry bramble at the back of her property. I went over there the other day and picked about a pound – there were thousands… and thousands more at all stages of development. Which is particularly good news, because I particularly like fresh blackberry syrup on pancakes. It’s about as difficult as making tea.  Here’s how:

Start with at least ½ pound fresh black berries, and rinse them in a colander. Put fruit into a relatively small pot (relative to the amount of fruit you’re using) and add a splash of water (to cover the pot’s bottom.) Put a lid on it; bring to a simmer over medium heat.

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Quesadilla… Mui rapido.

Cheese melted between tortillas… delicious. I don’t know the exact figure, but millions of people survive and thrive on a diet that included at least one quesadilla a day. In Mexico it’s a staple, filled and topped with a crazy variety of ingredients.

Quesadillas are cooked using the “sauté” method – cooked in a pan over direct heat, using a small amount of fat. Vegetable oil is a good option. They’re an excellent way to use up leftovers, so be creative!

It’s best to use a pan that is slightly bigger than the tortilla. Preheat the pan and fat on low while you grate or crumble the cheese and get all your ingredients ready. When you’re ready increase the heat to medium, drop a tortilla into the pan and load it up! Two basic methods: one tortilla, folded in half like a taco; or two tortillas that sandwich in the filling. (The folded one is easier to flip.)

Cook the first side till the cheese melts, squeeze the juice of ¼ a lime over the whole thing, then close it and flip it over. After a few tries you’ll learn how much filling you need, and how the melted cheese keeps the other ingredients nicely contained, etc.

Oh, top it with salsa, sour cream and cracked pepper… we eat with our eyes, too!

Beautiful, bittersweet orbs known as grapefruit are part of the citrus family.

They’re an excellent source of vitamin C and are packed full of water. I lived in the desert for a year where hydration is key to healthy survival. I started eating a grapefruit a day as part of my hydration efforts – I considered them time-release water!

Grapefruits are usually larger than oranges and have a thicker “pith” (the white skin between the peel and flesh.) Two common varieties are yellow and ruby – the latter being the sweeter. In terms of selection, the best advice I ever got regarding the ripeness of grapefruit is that it should feel “heavy for its size.” Meaning the heavier it is, the more juice it contains.

Citrus fruit is high enough in acid to have other culinary applications. Marinades and salad dressings and sauces often call for vinegar or wine or citrus juice – all of which provide a recipe with its “acid” component. For “grapefruit vinaigrette” substitute the juice for all or part of the vinegar in your basic vinaigrette [3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar; salt & pepper.] Grapefruit vinaigrette is excellent on a salad of shredded raw beets and shredded raw fennel.

Two common varieties are yellow and ruby – the latter being the sweeter. In terms of selection, the best advice I ever got regarding the ripeness of a grapefruit is that it should feel “heavy for its size.” Meaning the heavier it is, the more juice it contains.

Citrus fruit is high enough in acid to have other culinary applications. Marinades and salad dressings and sauces often call for vinegar or wine or citrus juice – all of which provide a recipe with its “acid” component. For “grapefruit vinaigrette” substitute the juice for all or part of the vinegar in your [basic vinaigrette.]

Grapefruit vinaigrette is excellent on a salad of shredded raw beets and shredded raw fennel.