BBQ Turkey Quesadillas

The week after Thanksgiving is the week of leftovers, and I approach leftovers with the same seriousness I approach the original meal, because leftover food is not lesser food — it is food that has been given time to develop, to deepen, to become more itself. The turkey became turkey soup on Saturday. The brisket became sandwiches on Monday. The cranberry sauce went on top of the leftover challah with cream cheese, a combination I invented years ago and which Marvin calls "unorthodox" and I call "genius," and we are both correct.

I wrote a blog post about the art of leftovers — about how the meal after the meal is where the real cooking happens, where creativity meets necessity, where you take what remains and make it into something new. This is, I wrote, the essential Jewish approach to life: you take what remains after the destruction, after the loss, after the scattering, and you make something from it. Something nourishing. Something that feeds. The Jewish people are a leftover people — we are what remained after every attempt to destroy us, and we turned that remainder into a cuisine, a culture, a civilization. We are history's leftovers, and we are magnificent.

At school, the students are in the pre-December slump — too far from September's energy, too close to winter break's escape. I understand this rhythm. I have been navigating it for thirty-eight years. The trick is to introduce something unexpected: this week I brought in Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Yiddish Nobel laureate, and read "Gimpel the Fool" aloud to my juniors. Half of them were confused. Half of them were captivated. One boy, Marcus, who has been silent all semester, raised his hand and said, "That's the best story I've ever heard." I live for these moments. I teach for these moments. One student, one story, one hand raised in recognition. It is enough.

Rebecca called to tell me she's been invited to give a guest lecture at Yale. My daughter. At Yale. I did not cry on the phone. I cried after the phone. I cried into the leftover turkey soup, which did not suffer from the addition of salt water. I am a woman who has spent thirty-eight years teaching other people's children to love literature, and my own daughter is lecturing at Yale about the very literature I raised her on, and if this is not the chain, nothing is.

Marvin watched me cry and said, "You okay?" I said, "Our daughter is going to Yale." He said, "She's visiting Yale. For a lecture. It's different." I said, "Let me have this, Marvin." He said, "You can have everything, Ruthie." And he meant it. He always means it.

After I hung up with Rebecca and finished crying into the soup, I found myself wanting something a little festive — something that felt like a small, private celebration, just for us. Leftover turkey was already on my mind, and BBQ quesadillas are Marvin’s favorite, which felt exactly right for a night when he’d said “you can have everything, Ruthie” and meant it. So here is what I made.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 cups cooked turkey, shredded
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite variety)
8 flour tortillas (8-inch)
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices (optional)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
Sour cream, salsa, and sliced avocado for serving

Instructions

Season the turkey. In a medium bowl, toss the shredded turkey with BBQ sauce until evenly coated. Taste and add more sauce as desired. Set aside.
Assemble the quesadillas. Lay one tortilla flat on a clean surface. Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of cheese over the entire surface. On one half of the tortilla, layer a quarter of the turkey mixture, a few slices of red onion, a spoonful of black beans, and jalapeños if using. Fold the empty half over the filled half to form a half-moon. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Cook the quesadillas. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Add one or two quesadillas (depending on pan size) and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, pressing gently with a spatula, until the tortilla is golden and crisp and the cheese is fully melted. Add more butter between batches as needed.
Rest and slice. Transfer cooked quesadillas to a cutting board and let them rest for one minute before cutting into thirds or quarters with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.
Serve. Arrange on a platter with sour cream, salsa, and sliced avocado alongside. Serve immediately while warm and crispy.

Nutrition (per serving)

BBQ Turkey Quesadillas — The Meal After the Meal