It’s no secret that I love Mexican food. Fresh guacamole with lime. Spicy refried beans. Fresh salads. Salsa. I could eat it all day. I’m salivating at the thought. And I don’t discriminate, I love it all – from the traditional Taqueria to the more upscale, modern variety.
I had this meal at a cafe a while back, and as I was going through the pictures on my phone this morning, thought I’d post this for a few reasons:
1) I <3 Mexican food. Did I already mention that?
2) I was looking for inspiration for things to cook while we’re hosting my sister-in-law and my nephews, and I decided to do a tostada party for one of the nights they’re here – since my nephews love tostadas
3) I’m hungry.
One of the things I love about this meal is that it stays true to the heartiness of a traditional Mexican meal, with a few upscale twists.
First – the ENTREE: Three Bean Tostada with Beet and Carrot SalsadIngredients: Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Tomatoes, Blue Corn Tortilla, Vegetable Stock, Onions, Red Pepper, Celery, Beets, Carrots, Ancho Chilis, Cumin, Cilantro, Oregano, Smoked Paprika, Cashews, Jalapenos Directions: Cook the beans, tomatoes, onions, red pepper, celery with the veggie stock and all the spices to make that wonderful stew. The blue corn tortillas were either fried or baked – but either way they were awesome! And the rest of the ingredients were used to make that Beet & Carrot Salsa. What did they do with the cashews? Well, that is the coolest part of all. The cashews were used to make cashew cream – which was substituted for the sour cream on the top of this tostada! Cashew cream is super easy to make – you just combine cashews and water in a food processor, and blend until you have a consistency similar to sour cream. Cool huh? a Now – the SIDE: Warren Creek Farm Roasted Acorn Squash d
Directions: These should be pretty simple – just roast / bake the squash after tossing it in the cinnamon, chipotle and rice bran oil