Vegetarian Tostadas
This is the equivalent of "taco night" in the MacGray house. Well, unless were making Roasted Chickpea Tacos. Black bean tostadas don't get much easier or better than this. Start with Ezekiel tortillas or a corn tortilla of your choice and lightly pan fry in a bit of grapeseed or olive oil until crisp. Top your shell with a layer of warm Amy's refried black beans (or refried beans of your choice) chunky guacamole, salsa, cilantro, black olives, shredded lettuce or baby greens, and hot sauce.
You can up the ante by adding tofu thats been crumbled up with taco seasoning in a pan (with a few tablespoons of water) and sauteed until warm and toping with that as well. But most of the time I like to keep it simple. If you go with Amy's brand for the beans, there's already a taco like flavor to them so theres no need to add more. You could always add taco seasoning to refried beans if you can't find Amy's brand, just add a few tablespoons of water so it mixes up well.
We like to whip this up for quick weeknight meals regularly.
Vegetarian Tostadas
Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas, or corn tortillas of your choice
Amy's refried black beans (1 can makes about 9 tostadas)
Lettuce (Shredded romaine, iceburg, or mixed baby greens)
Cilantro
Black olives (optional)
Chunky style salsa
Avocado, cut into chunks (we need 4 avocados for 4 people. We like guacamole)
Lemon juice
Garlic Salt
Grapeseed or Olive oil for frying tortillas
Cholula hot sauce
Other optional add ons- Crumbled tofu (see paragraph above recipe), Jack cheese, sour cream
Combine chunks of avocado with a little lemon juice and garlic salt and mix to make a quick, chunky guacamole. Then mix in some more garlic salt, because you probably didn't add enough the first time ;). Set aside.
In a small frying pan, heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan generously and heat on medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Add in the tortillas, one at a time and fry on one side until crispy, about 1 minute, then flip to the other side and fry for about 30 seconds longer. You may need to turn the heat down as you go if they are browning too quickly. Stack on paper towels to drain.
(alternately, if you are using Ezekiel tortillas, you can bake the tortillas until crisp in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes. I do this in a pinch, but I don't prefer it.)
Heat the beans up in a small saucepan with a few tablespoons of water to thin them out. If you are using a brand besides Amy's, you may want to add in a taco seasoning packet as well.
To make tostadas, slather the tortillas with an even coating of beans on the bottom, then top with lettuce, guacamole, salsa, olives, cilantro, and Cholula if desired.