Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Barbecued Chicken and Mushroom Tostadas
Barbecued Chicken and Mushroom Tostadas
The traditional tostada is made by toasting or frying a tortilla into a crispy flat chip that is covered with beans, cheese and other toppings. But in this week’s Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman comes up with a surprising solution for cooks who don’t want to deep-fry their dinner but still enjoy crispy tostadas. Ms. Shulman makes the case that the microwave is the perfect place to make crispy and healthful tostadas and tortilla chips.
Years ago, when a series of sodden leftovers taught me what a bad idea it was to reheat pies and quiches in a microwave, it occurred to me that the microwave might be a perfect tool to create a chip that isn’t fried. It’s bad for crusty things because it draws liquid out from the center of foods, so crusts always become soggy. But if you put a plain corn tortilla in the microwave and zap it until all of the moisture is drawn out of it, the result is something resembling a chip.
When you toast corn tortillas in the oven, they just get hard, with no crispy snap. When you toast them in the microwave, you get the snap. But this method requires a little patience: Zap a tortilla for a minute and it will be soggy, even wet, on the bottom. Flip it over and zap it again, and all the moisture will be gone. Sometimes it takes a few turns, as every microwave is different; you’ll have to figure out the timing with yours.
In my microwave I zap for one minute, turn the tortillas over, zap for another, then sometimes need to zap for 30 seconds to a minute longer to get a browned chip with snap. You have to watch closely, though, as they’ll burn quickly once dry. For main-dish tostadas, I just cut my tortillas in half to facilitate eating (they could also be left whole), and it doesn’t take very long.
Here are some ways to create dinner with microwaved tortillas.
Microwave-Toasted Tortilla Chips: It can be a tedious process if you want to make a lot of chips. If you need chips for crumbling into soups, just leave the tortillas whole.
Barbecued Chicken and Mushroom Tostadas: If you’re cooking for both meat-eaters and vegetarians, make a batch using mushrooms alone.
Crabmeat Tostadas: Give the stove the night off; other than toasting the tortillas, no cooking is required for these light and zesty tostadas.
Vegetable Tostadas With Dark Chili-Garlic Sauce: Seasonal vegetables get a rich, spicy coating in this flavorful tostada topping.
Tostadas With Sweet and Hot Peppers and Eggs: This variation on huevos rancheros makes a satisfying breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Bean Tostadas: Topped with avocado and cheese, these hearty tostadas will please both the vegetarians and the meat-eaters in your household.
Spanish Recipes with Bill & Sheila(click on the graphic for more information)
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