This vegetarian tostada is a weekly staple in our house, easy to prepare with a lot of ingredients that keep well. Tostadas are fried corn tortillas, sometimes called chalupas. They’re generally served with ground beef or chorizo, but we bet you’ll be satisfied with this healthy version that highlights black beans and quinoa. This recipe will reveal a few tricks of the trade in the world of tex-mex cooking! You’ll need a kitchen tool to mash the beans, and a pan to do it in.
Makes 4 Tostadas
Ingredients
Olive or Avocado Oil
15oz cooked or 1 Can of Black Beans (reserve half of the juice)
Salt, Black Pepper, Cumin, Lime, Chipotle Powder, (Chili powder)
Pinto beans can be used as well.
1/2 cup of quinoa
Tostada Shells (feel free to experiment with a few store-bought brands)
Fresh Ingredients:
1 Medium sized Avocado - sliced
Rough chopped lettuce (romaine)
Diced Onions
Chopped Cilantro
Fresh Lime
Optional: Cheese, Cotija, Queso fresco, Monterrey Jack (mix)
Optional: your fav hot sauce
Optional: poblano pepper, corn
Have all of the fresh ingredients prepared in a way that you can assemble your tostadas quickly and without a huge mess. We like to use tongs and individual bowls and spoons.
Steps
Quinoa
Follow the suggested recipe, we prefer white quinoa for this recipe, and usually add some chili powder and salt in the water before boiling.
Once finished, keep in pot, keep covered.
Beans
Bring a pan that you can use a potato/bean masher up to medium heat. Strain the can of black beans, but reserve the liquid for later. Add a tbsp of oil when the pan is up to heat.
Add the black beans, and spices, stir.
Add half of the canning liquid or water (we are looking for a refried beans texture, not too runny, but enough to be spreadable. As the liquid starts boiling you should see it thickening .
Reduce the heat, start to mash and work around the beans until it’s a smooth paste.. If it’s too watery, allow it to reduce. Be mindful of the salt as it reduces and concentrates. Keep covered and move quickly as a crust will form.. If possible keep stirring or add to a deep sauce pan to avoid air-surface exposure which creates crusts.
Tostada Shell Prep
“Cooking the shell” is essential to getting the oils, flavor and proper texture out of the tostada shell. If this is skipped or not done properly, the tostada shell will break apart on the first bite!
We prefer using either a toaster oven, or holding the shell over an open flame with metal tongs. Do not use a conventional drop in toaster as the oils in the shells will ignite.
This step needs close attention as the shells can burn really quickly, even in the toaster oven.
Over a burner/flame set to medium low, with a pair of metal tongs, hold the tostada shell flat, about 3 inches away from the flame.. As soon as you see oils start to come out on the top of the shell (30secs-60secs) - flip the shell over for another 20 seconds. Set aside, keep warm if possible.
In a toaster oven, set the temperature to 275- middle rack, and watch the shells until they start to release oils. Remove.
Assembly
Quickly after the tostada shells are prepared, add a base layer of the beans, about 2 Tbsp, and spread around the whole shell.
Add 1 or 2 Tbsp of quinoa depending on your preference. If you feel the tostada shell flexing, you may have added too much bean or quinoa.
Add fresh tomato, cilantro, lettuce, onion
Add sliced avocado
Squeeze fresh lime
Optional: top with cheese / hot sauce.
If you’ve prepared the shells correctly, you should be able to eat this with your hands like a slice of pizza without issue. If the shells were not warmed up enough , or you add too many heavy ingredients, your shell could completely fall apart a few bites in. Safe eating!
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