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