vegetarian tostadas - meatless monday

Just for my lovely friend, Abbie, Happy Pi Day! Do you remember way back to the very beginning of this blog? Probably not. Well, I started this blog, thinking I would write about both cooking + science, and maybe some other topics too; however, I quickly found out that I wanted this blog to solely be my creative outlet, since I work 40+ hours a week in science/ engineering. I quickly dropped the pseudo-philosophical science chat from any other posts, but for today, just for my gal, I'll celebrate Pi Day (3.14...), and here is a little ditty just for that: "3.14159, integrate, integrate, graph that line"! Woo, Happy Pie Day! Now onto the show:

Remember yesterday? Remember when I said I was going to give you "a recipe that I've already eaten 3 times since the first time I made it"?  Or when I said that it "isn't going to be complicated... [or] something crazy, or insanely creative, or completely different from anything you've had before" Or when I said that it is "one of the best dishes I've made in a long time; one of the easiest dishes I've made in a long time; and a dish that is the definition of highlighting an ingredient and letting the "good stuff" (i.e. homemade refried beans) shine through"?

Well, here it is... vegetarian tostadas in all their splendor. I told you, this isn't wacky, crazy stuff, just fantastic food, food that I could literally (or figuratively) eat every-single-day. I may no longer have a boyfriend anymore, if I do such a thing, but at least I will have my beans...

Now about those beans, to make this dish as delicious and amazing as I'm making it out to be, you really should make your own homemade refried beans. I promise, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy! and have a fantastic Meatless Monday!

vegetarian tostadas

serves 4 (2 tostadas per person)

8 corn tortillas (I prefer "handmade" style, if you can find them)
canola oil
2 c refried beans, approximately
1 c lettuce, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
1 avacado, diced
1 lime, zested
1/2 c light sour cream

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat beans in a pot over medium-low heat, just until warm.

In a small saute pan, add enough oil so that there is a 1/2 to 1-inch deep layer. Heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. In the meantime, prepare lettuce, tomato, and avacado; stir about 1/4 tsp of lime zest into sour cream and add enough lime juice to thin sour cream into a "pourable" consistancy; and line a plate with a few paper towels. Test oil by placing a small edge of a tortilla into oil; if it bubbles rapidly, the oil is hot enough.

Once oil is ready, dip a tortilla into the oil using a pair of tongs, and holding it into the oil, let it cook until lightly browned, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip tortilla over and fry on the other side. Remove tortilla with tongs, letting excess oil drip back into the pan, then place on paper towels to soak up any extra oil. Place cooked tortilla on a sheet pan and into the pre-heated oven to keep warm while frying the other tortillas. Repeat for all tortillas.

Once all tortillas are browned, remove from oven and assemble tostada. Place about 1/4 c warm refried beans on each tortilla. Top with lettuce, tomato, avacado, and sour cream-lime mixture.