Vegetarian Tostadas

Last month we had a party at our house, where among the many dishes and snacks I served were tostadas. I was pretty surprised at how many of my guests had never before had a tostada. Usually I anticipate many questions when I serve things like tamales, but I never expected confusion over this. I thought tostadas were very common.

They are a very easy party snack. They can be assembled quickly using a variety of toppings. Above I topped them with refried pinto beans, chopped avocado, Salsa Xni Pec, cilantro and cheese (queso fresco).

Above I topped the tostada with refried black beans, tomatillo salsa, cilantro and shredded cheese (queso Chihuahua).

Tostadas can be made at home by either frying corn tortillas in oil or by baking them on an ungreased cookie sheet for a couple of minutes in the oven, until they become stiff. Incidentally, that is how freshly made tortilla chips are made at restaurants, by frying corn tortillas in oil. The only difference is that they cut the tortillas into triangles first. Anyway, for an easy option, the tostadas can also be purchased, as seen below:

Below is another easy thing to do with tostadas. Simply top them with shredded cheese and then melt the cheese either briefly in the oven or in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Where I grew up in Michigan, we called this snack Chips and Cheese. You can do the same thing using tortilla chips instead of tostadas. Pictured below, I also topped it with a bit of picante sauce.

Another variations is to top the tostadas or tortilla chips with beans or other toppings and cheese and then baking them for a few minutes in the oven to melt the cheese. I have heard people refer to that as Nachos or Mexican Pizza. I have found that throughout the US, people call variations of these snacks by all sorts of different names.