UPDATE! UPDATE! Christine, of Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea, has the menu up for this week’s Carnival of the Recipes. (Fast work, Christine!) Head on over and “place your order” now, eh?
Coupla tips on the way to the quasi-recipe, ‘K?
What makes this a quick snack or meal is advance prep of two essential ingredients. When I buy several pounds of ground meat (usually a mix of ground sirloin and ground chuck–just enough fat for flavor enhancement), I fry it up in advance, then divide it into “meal sized” portions, depending on how many folks I expect to be feeding at any one meal during the coming week. Usually, when I do this, I just go ahead and sautee some onion and garlic and add it in toward the end of the browning, cos I probably won’t cook a meal with ground meat w/o those two, anyway.
So, have the ground meat, already pre-cooked.
As for tostada “shells”–baked flat plain corn tortillas do just fine. I usually broil mine in my convection oven. Broken, they make great corn chips for dipping. Unbroken, perfect bases for tostadas.
Otras ingredientes
Chili powder or ground, dried ancho or annaheim chiles (a tablespoon or more per pound of ground beef, cooked)
Cumin (2 tablespoons or more per pound of ground beef, cooked)
Diced yellow (scourge) onion or freshly-chopped green onion
Cubed Roma or fresh, ripe beefsteak tomato
Shredded lettuce
Shredded jack, colby or cheddar cheese–or your fav mix of any two or three.
Place the pre-cooked meat and spices (and maybe a wee tad of water) in a covered microwave-safe glass or ceramic container and m-wave for 3-5 minutes, depending on your m-wave’s power, age, etc.
“Pre”-Assemble your tostadas: Meat, cheese
M-wave for about a minute to gooey up the cheese a bit if you prefer
Garnish with the rabbit food, some of your fav salsa or hot sauce (chipotle!) and chow down!
Make it a meal: add rice and beans (or refried beans).
Simple, exceptionally quick, and if you have rice and beans as leftovers, a frequent blessing here at third world county central, you can have a whole meal ready for two in about 10 minutes.
Zap! You’re done!
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