One of my favorite go-to recipes for a quick dinner, tostadas are both easy and filling. If you’re a Real Texan™ like me, you probably usually have most of the ingredients on hand. The staples are: tortillas, a can of beans, and salsa. Beyond that, go crazy with whatever you have in the pantry or fridge. I’ve made breakfast tostadas, tempeh tostadas, squash tostadas, and tostadas that were really nothing more than giant nachos (and how!).

Last night, I threw together some nice, mostly local tostadas using El Milagro corn tortillas, canned black beans, homegrown lettuce and jalapeños, both homemade and bought* salsa, and a little cheddar cheese. My partner, who is usually meagre of appetite, requested two!

Weeknight Tostadas

4 fresh corn tortillas
1 can black beans (or pre-cooked from dry)
4 Tbsp butter
~2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp bacon fat
1 clove garlic, minced
dash onion powder
dash salt
~1 cup fresh mixed greens of your choice
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 fresh jalapeño, thinly sliced
salsa of your choice, to taste

1. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 of the butter and a dash of olive oil over medium high heat. Fry each tortilla (you may be able to do more than one at a time if you have a large pan) on each side until nicely browned and crispy, adding more butter and oil as necessary. As each tortilla is fried, remove it from the heat and place it on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

2. Meanwhile, in a smaller skillet or saucepan, warm beans and bacon fat over medium low heat. Drizzle in a little olive oil to taste (about 1 teaspoon). As they warm up, add the garlic, onion powder, and salt, and continue to stir occasionally to prevent sticking and ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.

3. Lastly, assemble your tostadas by spooning out the beans and spreading them on each tortilla, about 1 heaping tablespoon at a time. Top with salsa of your choice, lettuce, and jalapeños, and, voila!, a quick and tasty dinner.

Serves 2. Make as many as you want, though!

*I’d also like to take this opportunity to break with blogular tradition a bit and give a shout-out to my friend Shanna and her addictively ambrosial homemade salsas. I regularly purchase her amazing creamy garlic jalapeño salsita, Hal’s Hot Love (which I have talked about here before), and I recently bought two jars, as usual. I have a confession to make here. I am so addicted to Hal’s Hot Love, both jars were gone within 36 hours!

However, we have a garden allotment down the street (what’s up, St. Martin’s!) and thus have a large crop of jalapeños regularly ready for the pickin’. After a horrible first try involving the poolside BBQ grill a couple of weeks back, I successfully roasted and pulverized the peppers and created my own sad, sad imitation: the poor man’s Hal’s. It didn’t compare at all.

As I’ve said before, Hal’s is really something special. It’s like Tacodeli’s Doña sauce, but hotter, creamier, and richer. Better. Anyway, what you see pictured here is my weak imitation salsa, which I won’t be making again, and her new flavor, a tangy garlic chile salsita called Kī’s K.O. Instead of suffering my last-minute impostor salsa again, I will be placing an order for more Hal’s (a case, perhaps?), and you should, too. Check out Shanita’s Salsitas here and place your order today. You can thank me later.