Tostadas Salsa Verde and Black Bean Pie

Although I was never really a fan of Martha Stewart before, I got this cookbook for Christmas. All I can say is I LOVE it. Each recipe has a pretty picture (which is all I really ask for in any cookbook), the recipes are easy and fast, and I want to make all of them. So, definitely more Martha posts to come. I also have a recipe marked from my beautiful African cookbook that will be soon to come, as soon as I can manage to fork over the cash to buy some lobster, I'll keep you posted. :-)

I made the following two recipes with my mom while I was home for the holidays in order to try out the new cookbook. Both were pretty easy and the results turned out great. Happy eaters all around.

Tostadas Salsa Verde

4 Flour Tortillas
3/4 C Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
2 1/2 C Shredded Chicken (We basically just used a standard pack of boneless chicken breasts, cooked them up and then shredded them).
1 C green salsa
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp ground cumin
lettuce (for garnish)
tomatoes (for garnish)
sour cream (for garnish)
avocado (The recipe didn't call for this, but we added some to the finished product and felt it added a lot!)



Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the tortillas on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them with cheese and bake until golden brown 8-10 minutes. (I found it to be way less time then this, more like 5 minutes).

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken, cilantro, salsa, and cumin. Spoon the mixture on the tortillas. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top. Bake until heated through another 5-8 minutes.




Top with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.

These were super tasty! When we made them at my parents, the salsa verde we got was WAY too spicy, so we cut it with half of mild salsa lisa. But, when I made them again in NYC, we got a milder salsa verde, and it worked great. These are really filling and very yummy!



Happy Eaters!





Tortilla and Black Bean Pie

4 Flour Tortillas
1 TBS Canola Oil
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno, minced, remove seeds if you don't want the heat
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, drained and rinsed
12 oz beer or 1.5 C water
10oz corn
4 scallions, thinly sliced, more for garnish
2.5 C shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the tortillas to fit a 9 inch springform pan. (My mom didn't own a spring form pan, thus we made this in a cake pan. It worked fine.)

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno, garlic and cumin, season with salt and pepper if desired. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, 5-7 minutes.





Add the beans and beer (or water) to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium; simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated, 8-10 minutes. (It took us a bit longer) Stir in the corn and the scallions and remove from heat.



Fit the tortillas to your pan. Layer with one quarter beans, 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat for each layer. ( We didn't really measure, just layered equally.) Bake until hot and cheese is melted. 20-25 mintues. (I really don't think it takes this long, cheese melts fast. We certainly only baked for the lower amount of time here). Sprinkle with scallions, slice like a pie and serve.



I didn't get to try as much of this as I would have liked, as I was totally full from the tostadas, however, I remember it being tasty, and my brother apparently now loves this dish. I plan on making it again soon in NYC. However, this week I have been treated to a lovely husband who is still off from school and is graciously cooking dinner every night. I miss cooking, but you can't complain about coming home to a hot meal already prepared. Yay for that! And, it's nice to have him home before 10pm. :-)

I've also been having trouble with the focus on one of lenses, so apologies if some of these photos aren't as sharp as I'd like. Hopefully I can remedy the problem soon!