Smashed White Bean and Kale Quesadillas with Creamy BBQ Dip

I spent last week at my mother in law’s in Florida lamenting the fact that I have to drive 40 minutes to the closest Whole Foods while her kitchen was stocked with delicious fruits, vegetables, sustainable meats and the like from her store 5 minutes down the road.

Then yesterday, I finally made it to the newly opened 40 minute away store by me and pushed my cart around each aisle as 2 little voices carried away on my shoulder.

Voice #1: “Oooh, look! Black spaghetti. How cool!”

Voice #2: “Um, there’s 8.8oz of that stuff in the package and the price tag says $6.59. Get a grip, Gina.”

Voice #2 won out for the most part but I did somehow get suckered into some perfect looking red leaf kale, an assortment of pick your own mushrooms, mangos, local organic grass fed skirt steak, the kimchi bar and kombucha…for $71.

Ok, maybe there were a few other small items.

But $71?! There were 2 bags, but I’m pretty sure the cashier just did that to make me feel better because it easily could’ve all fit into 1.

So here’s my question, do people actually shop at Whole Foods regularly?

Like, “oh, we’re out of milk and eggs, let me just pop into Whole Foods real quick!”

Because I’m pretty sure we’d be bankrupt in about 2 months if that were the case.

So these white bean and kale quesadillas are brought to you by my little ghetto produce store’s tuscan kale ($1.39 vs. whole foods $3.49), a can of non-organic (ah, the horror!) cannellini beans (Goya $0.99), some seriously sharp Cabot cheddar cheese they so graciously sent me (free) and Trader Joe’s whole wheat tortillas ($2.69).

Because I’d rather have money left over for more vacations than eat exorbitantly priced (albeit cool) black spaghetti.

These quesadillas are great when you want to get a full meal out of them. But if you’re looking for something more basic (and kid friendly!) try this air fryer cheese quesadilla. Simplicity never disappoints!

More quesadilla recipes to try:

Love, love, love brisket quesadillas when I have leftover brisket. They’re mouthwateringly good!

Both this summer harvest cheddar quesadilla and this peach burrata bacon quesadilla are great options for the summer when produce is abundant and you’re looking for a quesadilla that’s got a little bit more polish to it.