A GOURMET TAKE ON BITE-SIZE MEXICAN FOOD: TOSTADAS

Crunchy Bean Tostada

This is a wonderful little dish for anyone looking to lighten up tacos. The best part is that this really is a WOW dish-- how could anyone resist home made tortillas? I like to make these small and almost bite size for a fantastic appetizer. The more fresh veggies you pile on top, the more beautiful they get. 

To make the tostadas:

Fine Corn flour (or Masa flour) and hot water in a 1 part flour to .75 water ratio; in this case use 1 cup corn flour to ¾ cup water as a start-- may need more water or flour depending on how dry the flour is

pinch of salt, garlic powder and pepper to taste

olive oil pommace (high-heat olive oil) to cook (sparingly)

For the toppings:

One 15 oz can of organic Pinto beans (or any other beans, make sure they have no added salt or sugar)

garlic powder, black pepper and paprika

½ 7oz can of fire roasted green chiles (you can use red ones if you prefer)

Small quantities of: Avocado, Radish, Lettuce, Cheese, Cilantro

Optional: low salt salsa or hot sauce, small portion of queso fresco

For the Pico de gallo:

Tomato, onion, cilantro, roughly chopped

lime, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Start by rehydrating the corn flour in the hot water. Let it sit.
2. Place beans, chiles, and spices in a pot over medium heat. Cook until thick consistency. Let cool a little.
3. Add the spices to the corn flour and work the dough until a large ball forms.
4. Using your hands, roll the dough into very small balls (about the size of a small teaspoon)
5. Put the small balls through a tortilla press lined with plastic or roll with a rolling pin to form a small flat tortilla
6. In a pan with a little olive oil pommace over medium heat, cook tortillas on both sides until browned. Repeat until you have desired number of tortillas
7. Chop and prepare all the toppings.
8. For the pico de gallo, chop tomatoes, onion and cilantro. Add lime and seasonings
9. Assemble tostada, making sure to go heavy on the veggies and top with pico de gallo

Nutritional Highlights:

• High protein, high fiber for the calories: helps stabilize blood sugar; will help you feel fuller for longer and will provide you essential nutrients for health
• No added sugar (you will get small amount from tomatoes): won't throw off blood sugar levels despite having some complex carbohydrate load
• Low fat... the main source comes from olive oil: healthy fats help to satiate appetite and have a lot of health advantages including lowering cholesterol and regulating hypertension
• A variety of vegetables: will keep your pallet interested (different textures tend to satiate better) and will provide optimal nutrition

Precautions:

• When cooking tortillas, use small amounts of oil (no need to fry tortillas)
• No need to add a fat to the beans
• When composing the dish, be sure not to load up on the cheese; Your brain will register the small amount of cheese as a treat even in small quantities
• While corn is a complex carbohydrate (not fructose based) it's still a carbohydrate, use portion control by making your tortillas thin
• You are better off making small tortillas and having more than one, than having one large one; this will give you a chance to load up on more vegetables and slow down your eating

HOW TO INCREASE VEGETABLE INTAKE THROUGH THIS QUICK TECHNIQUE...

HEALTHY KITCHEN BASICS: Sauteed Veggies

One of the foundations of healthy eating is to increase vegetable intake. This reaps many rewards: vegetables are high in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and micronutrients, they are low in calories and they are high in fiber. Patients that increase their vegetable intake to 7-15 portions per day consistently report more energy, better bowel regularity, stronger immune systems and weight loss (fiber makes you feel full).

The problem with increasing how many vegetables you eat daily is that it's hard to do. It takes planning, it takes variety (how many lettuce salads can you possibly eat before you are bored?) and it takes knowing what to do with them to make them taste good.

One of the easiest ways to deal with vegetables is to lightly sautee them. This recipe is so flexible that you can take any vegetables you have and make a delicious dish. You can even substitute frozen vegetables for fresh ones.

The best part, is that having a big batch of sauteed vegetables around allows you to easily add them to any meal. Additionally, you can use this recipe as: a side dish cold or room temperature, add to egg whites for a healthy omelette, blend them up for your baby food, freeze it (it defrosts great!), add it to brown rice to make “fried” rice, use as a foundation for whole grain lasagna, mix with lettuce as a salad, add to a corn muffin mix to get veggie heavy muffins... and the possibilities go on and on...

Summer Succotash

½ yellow onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 heads of broccoli, chopped

1 bunch of asparagus, chopped

2 yellow corn, kernels off

1 bag of spinach chopped

Optional: 1 can of low sodium beans

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

3+ garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste + any other seasonings you enjoy

In a pre-heated pan, add the oil and the onion. Sautee lightly until onions are translucent. Add the carrots and bell peppers and sautee for about a minute. Add the asparagus, corn and garlic. Sautee until soft but not all the way cooked through. Add the beans if you are using. Then lastly add the spinach and seasonings. Cook until spinach is wilted.

Precautions: Since this dish contains corn, it counts as a starch+vegetable. If you like to separate out your starch, simply omit the corn.

Considerations: Be careful of how much olive oil you use. Since vegetables naturally contain water, you might be surprised at how little oil it takes to make a moist dish