Sargent Choice Test Kitchen: Vegetarian Tostadas

To depict a corn tortilla with seasoned veggies and refried beans
Ashly Estrada, Undergraduate Nutrition Student
November 1, 2023

Why We Chose This Recipe

  • The recipe can be easily modified to be dorm friendly.
  • Making these tostadas is a fun and delicious way to include veggies in a meal.
  • Ingredients can be easily substituted based on what you have on hand.

Recipe adapted from Erhardt’s Eats
Yield: about 6 tostadas

Ingredients

  • 6 corn tortillas or tostada shells
  • 16 oz canned vegetarian refried beans warmed
  • 1 cup frozen corn or canned corn
  • ½ small zucchini
  • ½ orange pepper, thinly sliced
  • ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ tablespoon lime juice
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • ⅛ teaspoon chili powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Optional:

Mashed Avocado:

  • 2 large avocados
  • 2 tablespoon lime juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro Lime Slaw:

  • 1 ½ cups shredded green cabbage
  • ⅓ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Additional Optional Toppings:

  • ½ cup cotija cheese crumbled
  • salsa
  • sour cream
  • hot sauce

Directions

Optional: Mashed Avocado

  1. Slice avocados in half with a sharp knife and remove the large seeds. Then scoop out the flesh of the avocado halves with a spoon and add to a large prep bowl.
  2. Add in lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste and mash with a spoon or fork until your desired texture is reached. Set aside and prepare the remaining ingredients.

Optional: Cilantro Lime Slaw

  1. Chop green cabbage into thin slices.
  2. Bunch together cilantro, chopping off stalks before rough chopping leaves.
  3. Combine shredded green cabbage, lime juice, salt, pepper, and fresh cilantro to a medium-sized prep bowl.
  4. Gently toss to combine and set aside while preparing the shells.

Note: If purchasing store-bought shells, you can skip this step

Homemade Tostada Shells:

  1. Lay corn tortillas in an even layer on a large baking sheet.
  2. Mist both sides with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper.
  3. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 minutes flipping halfway through. The tortillas should be crispy and slightly browned. (While the tortillas are baking, cook the vegetables).

Vegetables:

  1. Slice and chop your red onion.
  2. Remove the ribs and seeds and chop the orange pepper into small pieces.
  3. Slice and chop the zucchini into small pieces and gently salt to release any excess moisture.
  4. Add chopped vegetables, frozen corn, lime juice, salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika to a large skillet.
  5. Cook on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are soft and fragrant.

Assembly:

  1. Begin by gently spreading some warm refried beans (¼ – ⅓ cup) on each tostado.
  2. Optional: Next, divide and smear some of the mashed avocado over top of the refried beans.
  3. Divide the cooked veggies between the 6 tostadas adding on top of mashed avocado.
  4. Optional: Sprinkle some of the cilantro lime slaw over top of everything. You can customize a bit more and add some cheese (like cotija), salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, fresh cilantro, or more.

Note: 1 lime will give you approximately 2 Tbsp of juice. This recipe would require approximately 2 limes with all toppings included.

Dorm-Friendly Version

You can make this recipe cook-free by using already-toasted hard-shell tostadas or soft corn tortillas. The refried beans don’t have to be warmed if you don’t have access to a microwave. During our Sargent Choice Test-Kitchen session, we did not reheat the refried beans and the tostadas were still yummy. You can also keep the veggies uncooked, given that zucchini and peppers can be eaten raw.

To show a student assembling a tostada.
Gloria, a finance student at Questrom, is shown assembling a tostada.

What We Liked

  • It was extremely fun and relatively easy to make these tostadas alongside friends and peers.
  • Students enjoyed the fresh aroma and bright colors of the dish. One student expressed that they were encouraged to stop by the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen table because of the fresh aroma of the cilantro and veggies.
  • This recipe called for a variety of veggies, which can be easily substituted based on what you like or have on hand. For example, instead of bell peppers, carrots can be used to still add crunch. Or instead of zucchini, eggplant can be added to the tostadas. Canned and frozen veggies are a great option!
  • We liked that using avocados or ingredients like cotija cheese is an optional part of this recipe, given that avocados can be an expensive produce item, and cotija cheese may not be found in every supermarket.

    Suggestions

    • Given that most of the ingredients listed in this recipe are usually purchased in larger quantities (ex. whole cabbage, whole bell pepper), we recommend doubling the recipe to use up more of the ingredients.
    • Or you can purchase a pre-cut slaw to save time and ingredients.
    • It is recommended to read the ingredients label of the cans of refried beans to ensure that the beans are a vegetarian item, given that some brands include non-vegetarian ingredients such as lard in their beans.

    Nutritional Value

    • This recipe makes it easy to incorporate different vegetables for a variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
    • Tortillas and corn (fresh or canned) provide carbohydrates for energy.
    • Beans provides protein, providing longer-lasting energy.