Baked and Loaded Tostadas

Remember those I wrote about a while back? They were multigrain tortilla chips covered in lots of healthy toppings (with some cheese and sour cream added for flavor, of course).

How about following up those loaded nachos with some loaded baked tostadas? Tostadas are a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a deep-fried tortilla, which is cooked either flat or in a bowl shape and then covered in lots of delicious toppings.

There are many ways you can make tostadas. However, if you are going to make flat tostadas you need a good base to hold down all those delicious toppings so they don't all come tumbling off when you take a big bite.

In my recipe, the base consists of black eyed peas sauteed in garlic and oil and mashed. It's a very flavorful base that unites the crispy baked corn tortilla with the luscious mound of fresh toppings. Place all the ingredients in separate plates and bowls and let your family or guests make their own tostadas. These go great with a bottle of Modelo Especial beer.

Ingredients

Corn tortillas

cooking spray

1 tbsp of extra light olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 can of black eyed peas, rinsed

1 can of corn, rinsed (or a few ears of fresh corn grilled and the kernels cut off the cob)

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup of shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack Cheese mix

1 avocado, chopped and topped with lemon juice

Turn your oven's broiler onto the low setting. On an aluminum foil lined baking sheet, add a few corn tortillas. Spray with cooking spray and add to oven. Broil for a few minutes on each side. Watch the tortillas carefully so they don't burn. You want them to be a bit crispy. When they start to brown, take them out. Repeat until you've got about 8-10 crispy tortillas.

While your tortillas are baking, add extra light olive oil and garlic cloves to a small skillet. Heat on medium until the garlic starts to sizzle and the pan smells fragrant. Add your black eyed peas and sautee with the oil and garlic for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and take a potato masher and mash the mixture until it becomes the consistency of refried beans. Set aside in a bowl.

In separate bowls, add your chopped tomatoes, green onions, cheese, corn and avocado. Make sure you spritz some lemon juice over the avocado so it doesn't turn brown. Display all the bowls of toppings along with a plate of the crispy tortilla chips. To assemble, spread some of the black eyed pea mixture on one tortilla. Then sprinkle on some cheese and top with the vegetables. Make sure you have extra napkins handy! This meal can get messy. Enjoy!