Tex-Rican Tostadas

I'm pretty much convinced there isn't a country in existence that has not heard and fell in love with Mexican food. Why would my household be any exception? It's tasty, accessible (considering my current residence - West Texas) and overall simple to prepare.

Tonight, after a long day of work, I came home and prepared a decent "Mexican" dinner. Ok, ok...so if you're an actual Mexican you might not consider this authentic. But, is this NOT the whole purpose of my food explorations? To adapt it in a way that honors the original creation but puts a nice spin to it?

Ingredients:

For Beef:

1 lb of ground beef (Preferably higher than 80/20)
1 clove of garlic, ground
1/3 cup of diced onion (very small pieces)
1/3 cup of diced bell peppers
1/2 tsp of ground, dried oregano leaves
1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of ground cumin
Goya Adobo (seasoning) to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Other toppings:

1 sm avocado, mashed and seasoned with salt and/or lemon juice to taste
1 small bag of finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of cooked, seasoned black beans
1 cup of sour cream
1 small tomato, diced
Half a head of lettuce, finely shredded

1 Bag of Tostada shells (I use Mission brand)

The Process:

1. In a medium bowl, break apart your ground beef and add the following ingredients: Goya Adobo, vinegar, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly (I use my CLEAN hands to make sure it's all blended) until all the ingredients are a part of most of the ground beef mix.

2. In a medium saucepan, simmer the onion, bell peppers and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes on high heat. Stir continuously, as you only want the veggies to release their flavor, not burn.

3. Place the ground beef in the saucepan, on medium heat for 15 minutes until the meat is browned and thoroughly cooked. Continue to break all clusters of beef apart and stir every few minutes to ensure no area is left raw.

4. While meat is cooking, heat up your cooked black beans, seasoning to taste and draining any excess water once they're hot and ready to serve.

5. Once meat is cooked, remove from heat and drain any excess fluid/fat that may be left in the pan.

That's it!

Place all ingredients in different, smaller serving bowls. Lay them out "buffet" style.

To prepare a tostada, simply visualize it as a flat taco. Pile on the ingredients however you desire, leaving some out or maybe doing extra layers.

Warning: These may be messy eating...but oh, so worth it.

Actual Prep Time: 25 minutes

P.S. I omitted any spicy ingredients on purpose, making this dish "Puerto Rican Friendly". We don't eat any sort of spicy food. If you feel the need to add a little heat, I recommend dicing one fresh, seeded jalapeno pepper and cooking it in the saucepan with the onion, garlic, bell pepper in olive oil.

Happy Nomming,

Pastrami Pants