NATASHA'S SCANDALNAVIAN QUESADILLAS

A few days before my October column is due, I send out the following mass email to my girlfriends: Nyah nyah, Natasha Pike, (the tall, motor-mouthed co-front-woman of the deeply excellent local band Scandalnavia) is coming over to my house to make me lunch.

Natasha comes over to my place around noon and tells me we're making quesadillas. AWESOME. I'm all in favour of eating super healthy organic stuff as often as one possibly can, but there's also a time and place for homemade, junky comfort food. We're going to make something simple, unintimidating. Something substantial, that a girl can make even when she's not in full possession of her faculties. Because when you're hungover (or tired, or mopey, or drunkenly throwing together snacks with your friends at 3am), but need real food, a can of soup just won't do.

I've got some of the fixings at my house, including a can of organic refried beans, which makes this healthy, so there. I've also got a tomato, half a red pepper, and some salsa. A nearby supermarket furnishes the rest: sour cream, cheddar cheese, a pack of tortillas, a bunch of cilantro, and some hot peppers. Natasha goes right for the scotch bonnets, those little, multi-coloured, fiery Jamaican peppers. Natasha clearly means business; these are serious peppers.

Back in the kitchen, Natasha starts cutting up the vegetables. She gives the scotch bonnets a good rinse in very cold water to tone down their scorch first. And now it's time for an important reminder about hot peppers in general and scotch bonnets in particular: WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER CHOPPING. Do not rub your eyes, do not pick your nose, do not, and I cannot repeat this forcefully enough, DO NOT touch your private parts or anyone else's until you have washed your hands. That's the bad kind of burning, kids. And don't ask me how I know this.

So, follow these instructions to make Natasha's Scandal-Style Quesadillas: two scotch bonnets, half a red pepper, half a tomato, half a bunch of cilantro, all chopped up very fine. Grate about one-half of a cup of cheddar cheese*, and mix it all in. Let's talk about cilantro for a minute. There are those who love it, and mix handfuls in to every bloody thing, and those who cannot even bear the scent. Natasha and I find that cilantro is best when mixed with other strong flavours, like the peppers and cheddar. It can easily get overpowering if you use too much, so watch it. If you're one of those who can't stand the stuff, a little leafy lettuce, arugula or baby spinach could go in your quesadillas instead.
Back to the recipe: slap a tortilla down on the counter and smear on a layer of refried beans, (You could use hummus instead if that's what you've got) then a layer of veg-and-cheese, and then another tortilla. You could make a stack of them before you start cooking, or you can assemble as you go. We go with the latter, cause quesadillas are both really filling (you'll want to know when to stop yourself), and best eaten right out of the pan.

Cook it dry (no oil, no butter) in a nonstick pan, over a medium-low burner. Flip the thing when the bottom tortilla's adequately toasty. Don't freak out if you fuck up when you flip it over; everyone does that sometimes, it's no big deal, you're still a great quesadilla-maker, your mommy still loves you, etc. Just scoop the innards back between the tortillas and keep going.

We fill a small bowl with some sour cream, and another with green salsa out of a bottle. We double-dip shamelessly, eating up quickly while the cheese is still melty. This recipe makes about five quesadillas. Figure on making about one or one-and-a-half per eater. For a vegan alternative, add a bit of soft tofu that's soaked overnight in olive oil. Or just leave out the cheese, that's good too.

Scandalnavia's first single, 'œFirst Coffee'? is on the Good Grooming for Girls compilation CD (shameless/permafrost), and you should go out and buy it right now.