Swiss Chard Quesadilla + Green Goddess Dressing

To read “How to plant a Patio Garden”, click here.

For the Swiss Chard Quesadilla and Green Goddess Dressing, read on!

Update June 2020: We first made this combo last Spring and are loving it again this Spring!

Eating your greens has never been easier or tastier! This SIMPLE and unbelievably delicious meal has been on repeat for lunch and is made with Swiss chard, lettuce and herbs all from our patio garden… but this meal tastes great no matter if you grow your greens, pick them up at your local farmer’s market or grocery store.

Late Spring through Fall, the  seasonal producer is so fresh & flavorful, that meals can be extra simple and taste more amazing than ever!

Original post…If you follow my Instagram Stories, you probably know that we are huge fans of quesadillas.  They come together quickly, can be filled with just about anything and are a warm and nourishing meal or snack (if you are my teen son with the bottomless appetite!).

A favorite all winter was the Spanakopita Quesadilla.

But now that we are deep into Spring, almost Summer, and our patio garden is growing like crazy, we have switched over to a seasonal favorite – the Swiss Chard Quesadilla.

This Swiss Chard Quesadilla became one of our go to lunches a few summers ago when we first grew  fresh Swiss chard in the garden and now we look forward to it every Spring!

In the photo above, this simple and unbelievably tasty Swiss Chard quesadilla is made with Swiss Chard from our garden and served with lettuce from our garden and a Green Goddess Dressing made with herbs, from the garden!

Before I get into the details on the quesadilla and dressing, a few words about our patio garden.

We love our patio garden and look forward to it every Spring but it didn’t start out this way… it morphed into this over many years.  Here’s the background…

My husband and I both grew up with gardens — my mom and grandparents had huge home gardens which they were very proud of and which I took little interest in at the time.  My husband’s family used to own a green house and now his mom and sisters now have huge personal garden’s are that are the envy of everyone!

When we moved from to the suburbs 10 years ago after many years in the city, we planted a few patio pots because the boys, particularly my youngest, was very interested in my mother in law’s garden.  From the moment we planted our first patio plant, we all fell in love with watching our garden grow!

Over the years, we’ve added to our collection of patio pots and we’ve switched up what we grow as we’ve learned what does best in our yard.

Now we grew lots of herbs– basil, two varieties of parsley, cilantro, rosemary, lemon verbena, mint, chives and thyme, lots of lettuce and swiss chard because these all thrive in the Spring here.

Later in June when it gets hotter, we will swap out the greens and add in tomatoes so stay tuned!

Do you have a garden? Leave a comment below and tell me about it! I’d love to hear!

For more details and tips on how to grow your own patio garden, click here.

Back to the meal above…

Let’s start with the Swiss Chard quesadilla.

Super simple, it’s just fresh Swiss chard (you can find it at your local farmer’s market or grocery store if you don’t grow it)  sautéed in olive oil with lots of dried minced garlic, your favorite shredded cheese (we love Monterrey jack or mozzarella with this one) and a gluten-free tortilla.  (I used Siete Foods Almond flour tortilla).

Update: this year we have sometimes skipped the garlic in place of chives and parsley from our garden and it’s so good!

Served here alongside lettuce from our patio garden and a Green Goddess Dressing made with herbs from our garden, it’s an easy light and satisfying meal.

More on the dressing. I’ve made this dressing so many times and I’m seriously addicted! It’s creamy, fresh and delicious!

It’s made with extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, 1 cup of fresh herbs, roasted and salted pistachios, plus water, salt and pepper.

In the original recipe, I used parsley, chives, dill and basil.  I don’t have dill in my garden so I substituted cilantro and I used a mix of curly and flat leaf parsley and it was delish!

Hope you love it as much as we do!

For a mushroom and swiss chard quesadilla, click here.

For more salad dressing ideas, click here.

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you make it.