Vegetarian Tostadas

After I made that yummy Taco Bell wanna be sauce, I knew I had to use it for more than just eating like soup.  I wanted to make bean burritos, but gluten free tortillas just never seem to want to be made into burritos.  They are always cracking and falling apart so you end up with a burrito in your lap instead of in your belly.  

I needed a quick dinner, so I ended up deciding on bean tostadas.  

I took my gluten free tortillas, crisped them up in the oven.  Then I topped them with refried black beans, an extra generous portion of the sauce, and then topped it with lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and avocados.  After I took the picture, I dumped on at least 3 gallons of the sauce, but didn't want to show that my finished product looked like a crime scene....which may be ok, since Halloween is this week, but not very appetizing to stare at. 

Vegetarian Tostadas

2 brown rice tortillas

Your choice of oil or cooking spray

1 can refried beans

Taco sauce

Assorted veggies (lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, olives, jalapeño slices, onions, bell peppers, etc)

(Non-dairy) Cheese and sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.  Brush or spray tortillas on both sides with oil or cooking spray.  Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes until crispy.  You can turn them halfway during cooking but it's not completely necessary.  Be careful to watch the tortillas closely because they will finish suddenly and will go from done to burnt in what seems like half a second.  

While the tortilla is cooking, heat your beans, chop up your veggies, and get out any other toppings you may want.

As soon as the tortillas are done, put them on your dinner plate.  Spread each tortilla with half the beans.  Top generously with sauce.  Pile on your toppings and then finish with more sauce.  

Enjoy right away or your tortilla will get soggy.  Enjoy!!!!

Lemony Basil Spinach Pesto (Vegan)

The other day, I was really craving some pesto, but my basil plant didn't really have enough leaves to make a batch.  But I did have a giant tub of spinach from Costco wilting away in the back of my fridge.   I used a small handful of basil and the entire tub of spinach and came out with a small bowl of yummy pesto.  It amazed me how little pesto I actually got compared to the massive amount of spinach I had.  A costco tub of spinach is ginormous!

I followed the same general steps that I used for my dairy-free basil pesto, except this time, I used raw pine nuts and did not toast them.   

Once again, I forgot to take a picture of this creation.  Which is really sad, because it turned such a beautiful bright shade of green.  I ended up freezing most of this in ice cube trays and then store the pesto cubes in a Ziploc so I have pesto all winter.   

Lemony Basil Spinach Pesto

1 small handful basil leaves

1 - 1lb tub of spinach

3 cloves garlic (I love my fermented garlic)

1/4 c. raw pine nuts

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

+/- 1/2 c. Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Put the basil, spinach, garlic and nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is chopped.  Add lemon juice and zest.  Turn on food processor and slowly drizzle in olive oil until it reaches desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Use immediately, store in a sealed container in the fridge for about 7-10 days, or freeze.