In this post, I want to share with you a recipe I came up with, several years ago. This a complete meal for dinner and a gourmet’s delight that we have in my household almost once a week. I call this dish Harker’s Tostada Surprise.

I imagine that most of you have had a traditional Mexican tostada of beans and cheese, etc. One of the reason’s this is a surprise is that instead of the usual beans I substitute rice. The second surprise for this dish is the use of Chutney.

You will need the following organic ingredients to make a meal for two:

Harker’s Tostada Surprise

(Serves two, preparation time under 1 hour.)

The start of the build: Corn tortilla, melted cheese and chutney.

4 corn tortillas
Mild cheddar cheese
Mango chutney (or other chutney)
Cooked brown rice (or other rice) 2 to 3+ cups, warm or re-heated.
Salsa (bottle or fresh)
One large avocado
1 large slice of lemon
Himalayan salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
Turmeric (to taste)
One large Tomato
One-half of a large Cucumber
2 plus handfuls of lettuce mix (spring lettuce & spinach leaves, for example)
1/4 of an onion (optional)
3-6 cloves garlic (optional)

Place the four tortillas on a cooking sheet. Place two and a half or so 1/8-1/4 inch thick and 3/4 by 3 inch slices of the cheddar cheese on the center of the tortillas. Put the tortillas into the oven on low heat – 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave in oven until the cheese melts and just begins to bubble. The exact amount of cheese you place in the tortillas should be just enough to cover the tortillas when melted, but not run over.

While the cheese is melting, prepare the rest of your ingredients, all of which will be placed on the tortillas.

Chop up the tomato and cucumber into small pieces and set aside on a plate keeping each ingredient separate from the other. Similarly, chop the onion and garlic into finer pieces and set aside as well, each being in their own separate pile.

Make a simple guacamole by scooping the avocado into a bowl. Add the juice squeezed from the lemon slice to the avocado as well as the black pepper, turmeric and salt to taste. Mash all together into a smooth paste.

Warm or re-heat your rice, which is something that can be done while you are preparing the other above ingredients.

By now, the cheese is melted and begun to bubble, and the tortillas have begun to crisp up, but should still be pretty soft. Turn off the oven, use oven mitts to remove cookie sheet. Now place two each of the cheese covered tortillas onto individual dinner plates. The “Tostada Surprise” is now ready to be built.

While each dinner guest will build their own tostada to taste, I suggest the following model:

Start by spooning 1-2 teaspoons of the mango chutney on top of the cheese of each tostada. Next add 1/4 of the rice on top of the chutney. Then add two tablespoons of the salsa to each pile of rice, mixing the salsa into the rice. Next add 1/4 of the guacamole on top of the salsaed rice, mixing the avocado paste into the rice as well. Now add a top layer of the fresh ingredients: 1/4 each of the tomato and cucumber pieces and the onion and garlic, if you wish to add those as well. And finally, top off everything with some of the lettuce mix.

The tostadas are now ready to eat – by hand. As you pick up on tostada to bite, it is okay if part of the mixture spills out and back on to the plate – just use your hands to scoop up and then chow down whatever falls out.

This is a very flexible recipe and you can adjust the amount of the individual ingredients to your appetite and tastes. It is easy to add extras, such as other greens like sprouts, for example. Some people add a dash of Tabasco sauce. And this is a great vegetarian meal for those who allow cheese.

I find this to be a very filling meal with a variety of different tastes and textures which delight me and hopefully will delight you, too.

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