Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Quesadillas (Vegan)

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Makes 4 Quesadillas
These seasonal quesadillas combine creamy butternut squash with savory caramelized onions to create a unique and flavorful dish. Butternut squash is a wonderful fall vegetable and has a mild sweet and nutty taste. Although butternut squash might look intimidating to work with, preparing it requires only a few simple steps. To prep the butternut squash, I sliced off the top and bottom and peeled the skin off with a vegetable peeler. I then cut the squash in half lengthwise, scooped the seeds out, and cubed the squash into small pieces. Using this method makes prepping butternut squash a breeze! Since no quesadilla is complete without cheese, I added Daiya cheddar style shreds. These cheddar shreds are the perfect cheese substitute if you are vegan or have a dairy allergy. They taste extremely similar to real cheddar and give the quesadillas rich, cheesy flavor.

 

Ingredients:

8 Small Flour Tortillas
2 cups Butternut squash, diced
1 medium Onion, diced
1 cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds
Coconut Oil
Vegan Butter
Salt
Pepper

 

Directions:

  1. In a medium pan, sauté onion in a bit of coconut oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add one tablespoon of water to the onion and continue to cook. When water evaporates add another tablespoon of water and continue to cook until onion becomes caramelized. Season onion with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer onion to a medium bowl. To the same pan, add ¼ cup water and butternut squash and sauté on medium heat until soft for about 8 minutes. Season butternut squash with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to the same bowl as the onion.
  2. To assemble the quesadillas, lay out 2 tortillas on a clean surface and top one tortilla with ½ cup of the butternut squash and onion mixture. Next, add ¼ cup of Daiya Shreds. Place the other tortilla on top.
  3. In a small sauté pan melt 1 tsp. of vegan butter on medium heat. Once melted, add quesadilla. Press down on the quesadilla with a spatula and cook for 3 minutes. Flip quesadilla over and cook for 2 minutes while pressing down with a spatula. Using a spatula to press the quesadilla will help the quesadilla become golden brown.

 

 

By Tiffany Wu / Guest Blogger

Tiffany is a student at JMU, majoring in dietetics. Her family owned a Chinese restaurant when she was growing up, so her passion for food and cooking began at an early age. She especially likes creating delicious and healthy plant-based recipes.