Tostadas

In this edition of ‘what we’ve been eating lately,’ I am bringing you a dish that we eat at least once a week. Sometimes a few times a week. To say we are obsessed is putting it lightly. I think we ate this every Saturday for a few months.

It is one of the easiest recipes ever; so easy I kind of want to put ‘recipe’ in quotes.
Tostadas

Ingredients
2 corn tortillas
1/3 cup Refried beans (our favorite= Whole Foods brand Lime + Roasted Chile)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/8 cup mozzarella cheese
Jalapeños (jarred or fresh)
Lime wedges, salsa for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 415°
2. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, place corn tortillas on the cookie sheet and crisp up in the oven for about 5 mins
3. Take the tortillas out of the oven, spread each tortilla with an even amount of refried beans.
4. Top with cheese (feel free to use as much cheese as you like, and different kinds too)
5. Top with jalapeños or whatever kind of peppers you like.
6. Cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
7. Serve with lime wedges, squeeze on top of the tostadas. Also good with some salsa or whatever other hot sauce you want.

As mentioned in the directions, these tostadas can be made with anything you like: different kind of beans (refried black beans, etc.), different cheeses, different peppers on top to add some heat (Brent adds banana peppers), add avocado/guac/sour cream/different crazy hot sauces on top.

These work for lunch or dinner… and I’m fairly sure Brent has eaten them for breakfast too. I should really do a series of Brent’s “if I put an egg on it, it’s breakfast” recipes. Maybe one day…

Tuscany Bread

A few pals pointed out my lapse in blogging (6 or 7 months, whoops) over the weekend, and my excuse was that I feel like I haven’t been cooking anything all that interesting. We’ve been eating a lot of the same few things in recent months; things that are so easy and quick to make that I don’t think are all that exciting or recipe worthy… but maybe they are… so in the next few weeks I’ll try to post some ‘what we’ve been eating lately’ recipes.

First up is actually a copy cat recipe of an appetizer that I used to get at Uno’s years and years ago. They called it Tuscany Bread, so I will too. It’s no longer on their menu, but I like to make it every now and then. This is not a very healthy dish, but it’s tasty every once in awhile.
Tuscany Bread

Ingredients:
Baguette (or French loaf, Ciabatta, etc.)
Pesto
Munster
Baby spinach
Diced tomato (roma is great for this recipe)
Lemon wedges

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Determine how much bread you want to eat, then take that amount and cut it in half lengthwise and toast it in the oven for about 3-4 minutes.
3. Spread a layer of pesto on both sides. Use however much you want, but pesto goes a long way so you don’t need too much.
4. Add a lot of baby spinach. I like to add 2-3 layers.
5. Cover the bread with munster. If you don’t have (or like) munster, mozzarella cheese is just fine.
6. Add some diced tomatoes. In my opinion, the more tomatoes on this, the better.
7. Bake until the cheese is melted. I like to also broil this right at the end for 30 seconds.
8. When you sit down to eat, squeeze some lemon on top.

Although those fools at Uno’s called this an appetizer, I often eat it as the main dish, with a salad or some other vegetable on the size. It’s kind of pizza-like, so it’s totally a main dish. And in the picture above, I served it on my great-grandmothers china that my grandmother gave some of to me, so that makes this fancy. Don’t let anyone tell you any different!

Gallo Pinto (Costa Rican Rice and Beans)

We just got back from a vacation in Costa Rica (Playa Flamingo to be exact, go book your trip now!)  where we spent a week in the ocean, hanging at a resort pool (complete with a swim up bar), having beach bonfires, doing yoga with an ocean view and having all sorts of adventures with a bunch of our pals. The reason for the trip was that our friends Nate + Sarah decided to get hitched in the paradise you see in the picture above. Geniuses.

It was great and so was the food. We ate rice and beans as a part of almost every meal for a seven days and when we got home the first thing Brent wanted to do was recreate the recipe, so we did.

Gallo Pinto
adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked brown or rice
• 2 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained, rinsed and liquid reserved
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1-2 tablespoons Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (or Salsa Lizano if you are lucky enough to have it or want to buy it on Amazon.com)
• Juice of 1/2 a lime (or more, to taste)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, and add onion. When onion starts to turn a little translucent, add garlic, and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until onion is golden brown.
2. Stir in 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to the onions and garlic.
3. Add in the cumin, coriander, ginger with to the onions and garlic, mix until incorporated.
4. Stir in rice, beans and seasonings, combining well. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup liquid from canned beans, if desired, to make the rice a little more moist, or as the recipe says “dirty.” I did this and it did bump up the flavor a bit.
5. Cook until heated through, and add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add another tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce or Salsa Lizano to the mix if you feel like your beans are missing a little seasoning. I only used 1.25 tablespoons and I thought it tasted great.

The original recipe called for an additional cup of rice, but I wanted a more even bean to rice ration. If you want to add that additional cup, just add an extra tablespoon of worcestershire or Salsa Lizano. I also used brown rice and it tastes great (and is better for you) I also really like squeezing a bit of lime over the beans after I re-heat them. Feel free to top with cilantro or green onion too.

My view today is of clouds and city, not of beaches and palm trees,  but at least I can eat this at work and pretend I’m back in Costa Rica… right?