It's a Fiesta!

I love Mexican food. Last semester, I had a crazy Wednesday schedule, which included meetings right before and after dinner, giving me zero time. I solved that problem by becoming a “Chipotle runner” for some other friends so we could eat during our 6pm meeting. This meant I got my TexMex fix at least once a week. Lately, I’ve been seriously missing this deliciousness, so I decided to DIY it tonight and knock out several Moosewood recipes. Instead of my usual burrito bowl, I made tostadas!

Dat ass...

             A tostada is basically a crispy tortilla piled high with bean and toppings, and eaten open face. I made my own refried beans (Moosewood calls them “refritos”) and a cheesy nacho sauce to go on top. The beans were very easy and absolutely delectable. I am never going back to canned! The sauce was good, but not as strong as I was hoping. I really like spicy food and hot salsa, but this was a bit milder than I like. I suppose I could’ve added more cayenne or thrown in some jalapeños. Additionally, the sauce is made with beer, and that flavor was more present than the bell peppers or tomatoes. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really scream “Mexican Food!” to me. Also, this dinner got away from me a bit because I had so many things going on at once, and the sautéed vegetables that form the base of the sauce got a bit burned. Again, not bad, but probably would've still been better unburned. 

            One of the recommended toppings for the tostada was guacamole. I am not a big avocado fan, but recently I tried homemade, fresh guacamole and fell in love. Even Chipotle’s is pretty good. However, despite my newfound love, I am apparently still an avocado novice because mine refused to mash. So I kinda had slices of avocado with lime juice on top of the tostada instead of straight guac. But it’s a simple recipe and I know I can replicate it easily.

            And, of course, no fiesta is complete without a margarita. I was trying to find one of those frozen juice mixes to use, but I couldn’t find any in Target (side note: Target groceries are really cheap!) or Trader Joe’s. So I bought some sparkling limeade and added some tequila and fresh squeezed lime. It was totally delicious! My bartending skills are not to be matched!

Nope. Not happening. 

My favorite part is that
there's a dashed edge so
that you can photocopy this page and
 hand it out to your dinner guests. 

Moosewood does give a bit of a warning that tostadas are a messy meal, but I was not prepared for just how messy. That diagram is a LIE. No matter how crispy you get your tortilla, it does not have the structural integrity to support refried beans, sour cream, and sauce. No freakin’ way. But it does taste just as good eaten with a fork.