Meatless Monday: Black Bean Lime Tostados

Meatless Mondays is a weekly feature where I share my hits and misses with living a meatless life. Many of you know I stopped eating meat about a year ago for personal reasons. While, I haven’t had any desire to go back to eating meat, it has been a struggle to find healthy foods to eat.

Everywhere you go, meat is the main dish. Since I was new to this lifestyle, it led me to eating unhealthy options. I’m on a path now to cook healthier options at home without meat. While going meatless is a personal choice for me, you can still save money by having one meatless meal a week.

Will you join me on this journey by preparing one meatless dish every week? There is a movement called MeatlessMonday.com where you can learn more!

Black Bean Lime Tostados

Ingredients

Cilantro Lime Rice

• white rice, cooked
• cilantro
• 1 lime

Tostados

• corn tortillas
• 1 can black beans, drained
• cilantro, chopped
• diced tomatoes
• shredded mexican cheese
• shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First prepare white rice according to instructions. I used a leftover batch of rice. Add fresh cilantro and squeeze a lime to taste.

Next you will spray the corn tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Cook for around 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven.

Start adding your goodies! I used my Pampered Chef scoop to add the rice and beans.

Top with a bit of cheese.

Cook until cheese is melted. Remove from oven. Add tomatoes, sprinkle with cilantro, and add a bit more cheese if you wish.

Post Dinner Analysis

Top with hot sauce or salsa! This recipe doesn’t have a ton of flavor and is a bit bland by itself. I used my favorite salsa Mama Rosarita’s Salsa Verde, which is a medium salsa but really taste like a hot salsa to me.

I offered to top this off with diced chicken or cooked taco meat but Bryan said he would eat it just like it was. He agreed with me about topping it with a salsa. I personally like this because it is so quick and easy to make and you can use whatever ingredients are in your refrigerator. For example, I whipped up a couple of these as a quick dinner for myself one night and added the fresh guacamole, which was in my fridge.

Freezer Friendly

I’m not sure if this is freezer friendly. Any thoughts?

Meat it Up

If you are a meatarian, you can top with diced chicken or used leftover taco meat.

Vegan Option

Use vegan cheese.

If you have any questions about the vegetarian lifestyle, you can read more about it at GoVeg.com.