The Only Quesadillas You Will Ever Need. Seriously.

To start off, here's a how-to guide for the quesadillas that earned me about a billion Cool Girlfriend Points from The Mr. and his friend. All "measurements" are approximate, because I know how much I like, but I don't know how much you like. Love cilantro? Add a whole ton. Or leave it out if you hate it. That's the fun of cooking: it's all intuitive.

You're Gonna Need:
- 1 can of black beans
- 8 0z or so of pepper jack cheese
- 1 smallish red onion (buy the big mesh bags to get a wide variety of sizes for all your oniony needs) or 4 or 5 scallions, diced
- several jalapeños, to make about 1/2 cup when diced and seeded
- 2 serrano chiles, seeded and diced (leave 'em out if you don't want the heat)
- 4-5 large flour tortillas
- about 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
- juice from 1 lime
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or run through a press

Putting it All Together
Drain the black beans and put them in a largish bowl. Use a fork to mash them against the side of the bowl, so that they're chunky but spreadable. Add the onions, jalapeños, chiles, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice and mix it all up.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Lay one of the tortillas in the skillet and spread a small amount of filling over half of the tortilla, making sure to leave about 3/4 inch between the filling and the edge. Careful not to use too much, or the quesadillas will gush all over later when you slice them. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the filling and fold the empty half over. Let it cook until the bottom is browned and crispy, then cook the other side. Make more quesadillas until you've used up all the filling.

When the quesadillas have cooled a bit, slice them up with a pizza cutter. Serve them alone or with salsa or sour cream for dipping, if you want. Enjoy the gratuitous praise and pretend it was a lot of hard work to make them.