Like the grilled cheese, a quesadilla is the ultimate quick-cooking meal. Toss in leftovers and whatever cheese you have on hand and the results are miraculously and consistently scrumptious. In this vegetarian version, the Tex-Mex staple goes gourmet. Yukon gold potatoes provide a richness while pepper jack cheese packs a spicy punch.

To create a flavorful, healthy sauce, a store-bought tomatillo salsa is pureed with mustard greens. Serve this delicious dish to your family this evening: read more

We love Slashfood so much that every Thursday we round up their most delicious stories. Here are this week's finds:

• Meet Tracy Porter, tabletop's new hero.
• Beef terroir: the grassfed difference.
• Canning of craft beers is becoming more popular.
• The Food Network has launched a new line of kitchenware.
• What makes you feel like a real cook?
• Tuck an edible note into your kid's lunches with FoodWriters.
• The new cocktail shakers are antique pitchers.

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Two short order cooks were put behind bars yesterday for intentionally contaminating food.

Jaime Perez and James Ledesma of Andy's Landing restaurant in Burnet, TX, were arrested on felony counts of tampering with a consumer product. According to a former co-worker, Perez put bodily secretions into Burnet Police Chief Paul Nelson's food. Allegations include spit, nose blowing, and wiping of hamburger buns on the cook's backside.

Apparently, previous run-ins with the law left Perez with ill will toward the police chief. The second cook, Ledesma, was around to witness the food contamination but failed to stop it or report it. If both are convicted, each could face up to 20 years in prison.

The police chief's food isn't the only item to be tainted — the restaurant will likely be left with a tarnished reputation as well. I'm revolted by the details, and saddened for the restaurant. The story also leaves me wondering how often "special ingredients" are added to diners' food. Do you worry about the same thing?

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Recently I attended a female-only cocktail competition hosted by Nirvino. While I've been to many cocktail competitions, I always look forward to Nirvino's monthly contest because the crowd gets to taste each cocktail and ultimately decides the winning drink. Nirvino is an exciting social networking community where drinking is the common denominator. You can rate drinks, bars, bartenders, wine, beer, and different kinds of liquor.

Its a fun concept that makes for an interesting event. After tasting each cocktail everyone gets on their iPhones or Blackberrys to rate the drink. This competition featured Square One Cucumber vodka and the winning bartender was Brooke Arthur from Range restaurant in San Francisco.

Her Fall Fizz delightfully combined the fresh flavors of cucumber, apple, and pear. Lemon juice adds an acidic balance and a dusting of cinnamon gives this drink a holiday feel. Like the gin fizz, it includes egg whites. I can't promise you won't get salmonella, but your drink will be deliciously frothy! To check out Brooke's recipe and a video of her mixing at the competition, read more

To keep things easy, serve a no-mess, no-utensil dessert on election night. At LibertySugar and my party, we'll be offering guests sugar cookies! Not just any sugar cookies, I plan on decorating the cookies to look like CitizenSugar's checked box symbol. I'll roll out Paula Deen's classic sugar cookie dough and cut out squares.

After baking the square-shaped cookies, they'll be covered with white frosting. Blue frosting will be used to outline a box shape and red frosting to make the check mark. Feel free to great creative and decorate with your favorite patriotic design! For the recipe, read more