Everyone loves a gooey, cheesy quesadilla, in this case crab quesadillas. A cheesy filling sandwiched between corn or flour tortillas and fried. What's not to like?

Topped with your favourite guacamole, fresh salsa and a dollop of sour cream the variations are endless and a welcome change from tacos. Kids love them too.

The first time my son asked for quesadillas, at age 3 or 4, I was impressed he could say such a big word. It also made me wonder if maybe we were eating quesadillas too often.

A plate with crab quesadillas with a drizzle of chipotle mayo — Crab Quesadillas

For these crab quesadillas I used canned crab, canned green chiles, Monterey Jack cheese and a rich goat cheese. I haven't used a recipe to make quesadillas for such a long time that I forgot what a nice combination this is. I like to serve these with a creamy Cilantro Salsa but today I had chipotle mayo in the fridge so I used it in the filling and on top. It is delicious but I've included the recipe for my tried and true Cilantro Salsa. It is a mayo/sour cream sort of thing so a generous blob perks up tuna or salmon salad...remember that when you are cleaning out your fridge.

Homemade Corn Tortillas; Organize for Success

Quesadillas are a popular restaurant menu item but are often made with wheat flour tortillas. Traditional Mexican quesadillas were made with masa harina making them naturally gluten free.

When I wasn't happy with the store bought gluten free tortillas I learned to make them with masa harina. The recipe is right on the bag but I wrote this blog post, homemade corn tortillas with step-by-step photos.

Once I learned to make them I organized the process to be efficient. I designated a bucket to hold all the necessary items and made a space for the container in my kitchen. Here's what you might want to put in your bucket:

A tortilla press
Two zip-lock style freezer bags (sturdier than sandwich bags) or parchment paper, to press each dough ball
Several squares of wax paper or parchment to separate the tortillas as I make them
Stainless steel taco holders or ceramic ones
A bag of masa harina

The recipe is on the bag of masa harina but I want to see it from a distance and I want to know the single, double and quadruple recipe. I put all that on a page, printed it in LARGE PRINT and taped it to two sides of my container.

Filling Ideas for Quesadillas

You can fill quesadillas with anything. I usually don’t use a recipe to make quesadillas but this is an old favourite that I actually had not made for a few years. The value of keeping recipes is to be able to repeat some amazing food combinations. But experimenting is part of the fun too and that's how you create some delicious combos.

Some of my favourite quesadilla fillings include: