Today will be a recipe post. That is all. Maybe…
I lied. It’s now officially fall!
Chai lattes, bring on your merciless wrath! I surrender!
Anyway, without further ado, I present to you:
Tangy Turkey Tostadas:
(adapted from Light & Tasty magazine, June 2004)
1 and 1/4 pounds of lean ground turkey
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper (the more colors you add, the prettier the final product!)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 can (16 oz.) of kidney beans, drained
1 cup salsa
1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup of frozen corn
A few corn tostadas, browned in the oven
Shredded cheese
Sriracha
Fun, random toppings: guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, dark chocolate M&Ms…
Mis en Place! I LOVE having my ingredients all set up and ready to go!
1. In a HUGE pan (I choose to use a large pot since I tend to generously overestimate most of the ingredients…) brown the turkey over medium heat until it’s no longer pink. Drain all the excess liquid.
2. Add the onions, bell peppers and garlic and cook until tender – about 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and cook for another minute.
4. Add in the kidney beans, salsa, green chiles, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Let it sit to heat through about 5 minutes.
5. Mix in the frozen corn (I dump a crapload in, just because it really adds some intense flavor and sweetness to the mix.) and add a squeeze of Sriracha. Be careful with this – it can be overwhelming and PAINFULLY hot if you add too much!
6. After the mixture has fully heated through, start setting up!
I like to liberally sprinkle cheese on top of a tostada, then put the mix on top, add even MORE cheese and top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and guacamole. A little extra Sriracha can’t hurt either… well it CAN, but I add it anyway!
Voila! A glass of merlot really helps round out the meal.
Tostada history: My junior year in high school, I went to my best friend’s house for dinner. Her mom had made these tostadas and I fell head over heels for them: This was at a time where I was having massive amounts of ice cream for dinner, and Hot Pocket’s Pizza Stix every day for lunch. Healthy was NOT in my vocabulary. Anyway, I fell in love and I hounded her for WEEKS until she shared the magazine article that she’d gotten the recipe from. For six years now, Tangy Turkey Tostadas have been a major recurring character in my life.
What recipes have you discovered and adopted into your recipe-vocabulary?