Bean Tostadas or Chorizo Tostadas

Just like bread can be repurposed to make bread crumbs or croutons, tortillas can be repurposed to make crunchy vehicles for wonderful foods. Tostadas are popular all around Latin America and thankfully here in the US. I offered you two options here for your convenience.

Ingredients

For the refried beans

1 cup black or white beans of your choice
1 jalapeño, cut longways
1/4 white onion, sliced
1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and freshly ground
1 teaspoon black Pepper, freshly ground
1/4 cup olive oil
Sea Salt to taste

For the chorizo

1-2 tablespoons (15-30g) olive oil
1 pound chorizo
1 white onions, 1/4 dice
1 medium yukon potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 dice

For the cabbage salad

1/4 green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red onions, thinly sliced
1 watermelon radish, peeled halve and thinly sliced
Kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

For the tostadas

1 cup or more of black beans, that we just made
Chorizo (if using)
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
Lime mayo (see step 3)
8 Tostada Shells (thin ones work best)**see Chef says
To serve: red or green salsa and cabbage salad

Chef Tips

If you opt to make the chorizo and potato version ask your meat department for Mexican chorizo. Add about 20 more minutes to your prep/cook time if you make both. Any leftovers is great with some scrambled eggs, avocado and salsa.

PS: I like buying fresh corn tortillas and toasting them in a 400F oven until crispy. The store bought ones have a lot of weird ingredients I don’t care to ingest.

Preparation

Step 1 (for the refried beans)

Preheat a skillet over medium heat medium heat. Add the olive oil, jalapeño and the onion into and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, black pepper, and salt to taste season with salt.

Step 2

Add the beans into the oil, with about 1/3 cup of water. Cook under low heat for about 10 minutes. Mash the beans to a desired consistency. I like to keep them a little chunky. Taste for seasoning

Step 3 (for the chorizo)

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the chorizo. Cook stirring often until the mixture is broken up. About 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add a few tablespoons of water to deglaze the pan. Return to the heat.

Sweat the onions and potatoes in some olive oil and cook about for about 5 minutes; season with salt. Return the chorizo to the pan and add about 1 cup of water and reduce until the potato is cooked through and the almost all the liquid has evaporated. Taste for seasoning.

Step 4 (for the cabbage salad)

Mix together all the ingredients and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Step 5 (for the lime mayo)

Whisk together about 1/4 cup mayo with the zest of one lime and about two teaspoons of lime juice. It should taste zesty; it will be rebalanced once you pair with the beans

Step 6 (to assemble the tostadas)

While your beans are cooking combine the sliced onions and tomatoes in a small bowl. Take a tostada shell and add a thin layer of lime mayo. Add a spoonful of refried beans and spread all over the tostada. Now add slices of avocado and sprinkle a bit of sea salt on each slice. Lastly, sprinkle the crumbled queso fresco (or feta).