Thursday, March 8, 2012

Vegetarian Tostada with Papaya Orange Pico de gallo




 Wishing all the women in my life, and all the people I have come across in this blogging journey a very happy "International Women's Day".
And also to my Mom who has been my inspiration who has been supportive in all ways through this Journey.
My MIL, who has given me some good and interesting recipes and is supportive too.
And my Sister, who has been a person who I can lean on to when I need any kind of help and also been supportively useful in all ways! :) Don't we all like to take advantage of little sisters! :)

Today is also Holi - a colorful festival, celebration in India. It falls on the full moon day towards the end of winter season. It celebrates the start of farming season for good harvests and good fertile lands. There is also a religious aspect to it, which is the end of cold and darkness and bringing in the purity in the form of light and brightness.



Holi is the start of spring season which brings in different colors, this shown by playing with colors, colorful water among young and old.
Brings back memories of when we were in India, and used to watch kids play with colors. Yes watch, I never played much Holi, but did enjoy watching kids. But loved to eat all the different sweets made on that day.

So technically, I should be making sweets, but I thought why not combine Women's day and Holi and make something which is colorful and healthy for both occasions.
Isn't celebrating being a woman, mean eat healthy and as a celebration for good harvest and fertile land, also mean lots and lots of vegetables and fruit! :)


 
So for this occasion, I came up with a Vegetarian Tostada with Papaya Orange Pica de Gallo. A very easy dish which tastes just as wonderful. Lots of fruit and veggies on the top making it healthy and guilt free.
So as the story goes, I brought all the ingredients for making this and also brought canned black beans...only didn't see that I picked up the wrong can. It turned out to be refried black beans.

My first idea was to spread fresh salsa on the corn tortillas and then pile it with the pico de gallo, which was going to contain the whole black beans.
But since it was refried, I made it this way - spread the refried on the bottom and piled it with the pico de gallo.
the fun part of this dish is that you can modify it the way you like it. Add as many ingredients as you wish and make it as yummy as you like!! :))

This can be eaten as a appetizer or as a side item on a lunch menu. The crispy corn tortillas and the toppings should be kept separate, so that it allows each person to put what toppings they like.




Ingredients:

Papaya Orange Pico De Gallo:

1/4 piece of Papaya, chopped small
half of an orange, fiber taken out and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup corn, frozen or cooked fresh
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 green chili or 1 jalapeno, thinly chopped
few cilantro or coriander leaves
1/2 to 1 Tbsp of Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together. Adjust salt, pepper and lemon juice according to taste.




Ingredients for making the Tostada:

6 corn tortillas, 6 inch
(2 corn tortillas per tostada)
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 cup refried black beans
(you can also use whole cooked / canned black beans instead)
Shredded cabbage
1/4 cup mix of Mexican cheese
(you can use fresh variety of Mexican cheese instead)



Method for assembling the tostada:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Spray the corn tortillas, on both side of each one, with olive oil.
It take about 10-15 minutes for the tortillas to crisp up, when placed two, one on top of each other. So you have 3 sets. You can also crisp them, placing them individually too.

Remove avocado from its skin. Add some lemon juice, salt and pepper. Keep aside.

You can heat the refried black beans to warm, if you want...or if you like it cold you can use it just like that.

After the tortilla crisp up, spread the refried beans on top of it.
Place some shredded cabbage on it.
On top of that, add the Pico de gallo and avocado.
Sprinkle some cheese on the top.

Serve immediately or the tortillas will start to get wet from the pico de gallo and soften it.
Enjoy!!!


Variations:

Whole beans instead of refried beans.
Lettuce instead of cabbage.
Spread salsa instead of refried beans.
Use chicken to make it more interesting!

There can be more variations, just be creative :).
















22 comments:

  1. This looks too good, the papaya orange pico de gallo looks awesome, very colorful, apt for Holi..

    ReplyDelete
  2. nice recipe. it looks wonderful. beautiful pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. colourful looks wonderful and reminds summer

    ReplyDelete
  4. First time here & i'm loving ur recipes & clicks!!!! This looks amazing & tasty!!! Happy to follow :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow...this sounds so good n healthy...nice recipe...on the whole it looks more appetizing...loved it!!
    if interested link it to my HITS event...thanks!
    Spicy Treats
    OnGoing Event:kitchen Chronicles - Summer Splash
    Ongoing Event : HITS~Fiber Rich Foods

    ReplyDelete
  6. you are tempting us with such pics.. not fair that we do not get a bite.
    Love Ash

    ReplyDelete
  7. So nice n colourful n healthy one...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really apt for women's day occasion - healthy meal. Love every bit of it
    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

    ReplyDelete
  9. wow....it looks n sounds wonderful....very healthy n a delicious recipe :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love this kind of meal...I liked ur white plan with silver bead design..

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very helathy and lovely recipe..will give this a try, so apt so both occassion...love all the pics

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks so colorful and yummy... Nice one

    ReplyDelete
  13. yummy n colorful, overall healthy too

    ReplyDelete
  14. great filling and healthy snack

    ReplyDelete
  15. Colorful, health and delicious Papaya orange pico de gallo. Lovely recipe.

    Hamsamalini Chandrasekaran,
    http://indianyummykitchen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love the colours you are playing with.

    ReplyDelete
  17. colourful platter and a delightful Holi treat smitha. Wishing u a great year ahead

    ReplyDelete
  18. Forgive me for sounding like an over excited puppy, but I simple LOVE the freshness of the tostada! :D Looks divine! :)

    By the way, I didn't know your email ID so just posting here. I would love to have you do a post for my Cooking With Kin Series. DO have a look at my series and let me know if you can or cannot do so that I can draw up a schedule. It doesn't need to be something too difficult. Any simple recipe would do too. Just let me know.
    Love,
    Kavi
    Edible Entertainment

    ReplyDelete
  19. wow, what a great innovative pico da gallo. Love it.

    ReplyDelete

Hi Guys!!!...Please leave a comment!..I love and enjoy reading all your comments!...