When I first got married, my husband claimed he didn’t like beans. It didn’t matter if they were black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans or another variety. They were all in the same category and off-limits in our kitchen.
As we both began to experiment more in our cooking and eating habits, beans slowly began to find their way into our dishes, but were never the main ingredient. A few cannellini beans in a big bowl of minestrone soup, garbanzo beans tossed in a salad, kidney beans mixed in a big pot of chili; these were first ways that my husband started to tolerate enjoy beans.
Fast forward several years and two of my husband’s favorite things to eat are Spiced Roasted Chickpeas and Black Bean Burgers.
So when I came across this recipe in Plenty (have I mentioned before that I love this cookbook?!), I was excited to cook with beans in a completely different way. The black bean paste was SO easy to make and would be completely versatile to use as a spread on wraps, dip for appetizers or as shown here, Black Bean Tostadas.
Black Bean Tostadas
Keywords: entree vegetarian beans Mexican Southwest
Ingredients (makes 8 small tortillas)
Black Bean Paste
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tsp. coriander
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
- Juice from 1 lime
- Salt, to taste
Salsa
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 tbs. white wine vinegar
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 hot pepper, seeded and diced
- Salt, to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lime
Remaining Ingredients
- 8 small corn tortillas (I actually made my own following the recipe from the Masa Harina package)
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. Make the black bean paste: place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until a rough paste has formed. Set aside.
2. Make the salsa: soak the onion in vinegar in a bowl for 5-10 minutes. Next, add all other salsa ingredients and mix together. Set aside.
3. Prepare the tortillas: place in 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden and crispy. Spread black bean paste onto one side of tortilla. Top with salsa and cheese. Serve and enjoy!
