Skinny Vegetarian Black Bean Tostada

Tostadas are usually very high fat and not exactly something you want to be eating if you are trying to lose the extra baby weight (Me!). I love the open-faced factor - It's like a mini Mexican pizza. Instead of frying the tortilla, I just warm it through. I used corn tortilla because they are much thicker and hold up better. I didn't want the liquid from the beans and eggs to break it down. I made these as a quick week night meal, but these would be perfect for breakfast as well. Since these are basically a just assemble-and-serve meal, you can customize it to fit your family's likes and dislikes. Topping ideas: shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, lime juice, tortilla chips, fresh diced red onion, etc. Customize it how ever you'd like. I really like the avocado and tomato only. The heat from the egg softens the avocado, making it buttery and delicious. My husband added cheese, salsa and tortilla chips to his. With the yolk being slightly runny, I punctured the egg and let the yolk run all over the top of the tostada. OOOHH it's so good. 

The corn tortilla I got were green chile flavored - which was awesome. They were really tasty and 90 calories each. I purchased them at the Fresh Market, I'm not sure if they are available in other stores. It was the first time I had seen them. If you prefer to scramble the eggs, that would be good too. I've made these same tostada a million times, in a million different ways, and scrambled eggs are awesome. 


Sorry for the foggy/poor lighting photos, these were taken while tropical storm Isaac was hitting South Florida.

Skinny Vegetarian Black Bean Tostada

Cook Time: < 25 minutes
Prep Time: < 10 minutes
Serves: 8 tostadas

Ingredients:

Black Beans:

• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste
• jalapeno flavored hot sauce, to taste (optional)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups cooked black beans (or canned beans, drained and rinsed)

Tostada:

• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 haas avocado, diced
• 8 corn tortillas, warmed
• oil spray
• 8 cage-free eggs, fried 
• fresh cilantro, minced

Heat the oil in a medium pot, over medium heat. Saute the onions, peppers and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Add the vinegar, oregano, salt, pepper, hot sauce, tomato paste and black beans to the pot. Stir well, reduce heat and cover. Allow the beans to simmer for about 10 minutes or longer. 

While the beans are simmering, prep the tostada ingredients. Begin frying the eggs (in the oil spray) and cooking to your desired done-ness. (I did mine medium, I like to poke the yolk and let it run into the beans and veg). Salt and pepper the egg if you'd like. 

Warm the tortilla in microwave or on the stove top. If you are using the microwave, about 10 seconds per tortilla. On the stove, just heat the tortilla on a dry skillet until they are warm and loose.

To assemble the tostadas - Place the corn tortilla on a plate, top with 1/3 cup of black bean mixture, 1/8 of the diced tomatos and avocado (add a bit of salt and pepper if you'd like) and top with the fried egg. Sprinkle with a little cilantro. 

Serve piping hot and have a few toppings on hand for customizing.

Nutritional Info per Tostada:
Calories: 270 ; Fat: 9.5g ; Carbohydrate: 29g ; Fiber: 7g ; Sugar: 1g ; Protein: 16g

Baked Italian Zucchini Boats

I wanted to thank all of the guest bloggers from the past week for the awesome posts!! If you missed any of them - check my archive section from Week 7/15-7/22. Different recipes and topics such as Date Balls, Open Faced Baked Stuffed Peppers, Tips for Staying Motivated and Chardonnay Steamed Mussels. I'm starting to settle back in at home with the new babe and enjoying being a new parent. I definitely underestimated how time consuming a newborn can be! I've been eating up all of my freezer meals (that I prepped beforehand) and meals made by family members the past 2 weeks. I'm glad to start cooking again, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to writing up the posts, taking pictures, etc. I'll try to post something new every couple days and hopefully over time get back to posting daily. Ok enough talk.... on to the recipe...




I got a bunch of great looking zucchinis at the farmers market and was looking to make a simple side to go with the main dish I had made. Since I had some ricotta and some jarred pasta sauce in the fridge just hanging out, I decided to put them to use. I wasn't sure whether to cut up the zucchini into slices and toss it with the tomato sauce and ricotta or make a stuffing out of it. It looks much prettier as a zucchini boat :) . Super simple to make and took practically no time to prep. I could totally eat these as a first course or as a side to any meal - they are just so tasty!!


I used Newman's Own Organic Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce as the sauce (my favorite go-to sauce). Any pasta sauce you enjoy will work in this dish. I chose to not cook the zucchini too much, because I like my veggies to have a bite to them. Baking the boat helps dry them out some - since zucchini can be quite wet. By omitting the bread crumbs this dish is gluten-free and low carb. Happy eating!

Baked Italian Zucchini Boats

Cook Time: 25 minutes @ 400F
Prep Time: < 5 minutes
Serves: 2


Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini, split in half horizontally (2 pieces)
• 2 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese, divided
• 2 tbsp jarred organic pasta sauce, divided
• 1 tbsp whole wheat breadcrumbs, divided
• 1 tbsp fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided
• fresh parsley, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F and get a cookie sheet out to place the boats on.


Take the zucchini halves and scoop out the center some with a spoon. Just enough to make a "boat".

Spread 1 tbsp of ricotta and 1 tbsp of tomato sauce on each half.

Sprinkle the parsley, 1/2 tbsp of breadcrumbs and Parm on top of the tomato sauce.

Salt and pepper to taste and lightly spray with a little oil over the breadcrumb topping.


Bake at 400F for 25 minutes, or until the zucchini is slightly soft. Serve warmed

Nutritional Info per serving:
Calories: 100 ; Fat: 3g ; Carbohydrate: 12.5g ; Fiber: 2.5 ; Sugar: 4g ; Protein: 5.5g 

Guest Post - Ellen's Asparagus Soup

Hello everyone, I'm Ellen from Ellenbcookery .   I'm so pleased to be guest posting again here at Laurie's cravings and happy you're back today.  Laurie and I would like to show you what was done with the leftover asparagus stems we didn't use in yesterday's stuffed pepper recipe .  Since the previous recipe only calls for the asparagus tips, I also made an asparagus soup with the remaining sticks.  It's really tasty and uses simple ingredients.  We hope you enjoy!


- EllenB 

Ingredients:

• 1 large organic onion, diced
• approx. 3-4 cups of water (add more if you'd like)
• 1 organic vegetable bouillon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 organic potatoes, quartered
• leftover asparagus spears
• splash of cream (optional)

Instructions:  


Saute the organic onion in a large pot until well cooked. 


Add water to pot,  an organic vegetable bouillon, salt & pepper.  


Once bouillon dissolves, add 4 quartered organic potatoes and cut up asparagus sticks.  


Once potatoes are cooked, puree with hand blender.  


Tasty on it's own, or you could add a splash of cream.

Guest Blogger - Ellen B's Baked Open Faced Pepper Surprise

I'm so pleased to be guest posting on Laurie's Cravings.  I'm more than thrilled to help Laurie while she takes this time to bond and get into a routine with her newborn son, Jared.

This stuffed pepper recipe is one that I found in a Belgian TV guide like magazine while I was living in Belgium.  It was so similar to something my mother-in-law used to make.  I hope you enjoy.  This recipe only requires asparagus tips.  Please come back tomorrow and we'll show you what I did with the remainder.

EllenBCookery

Cook Time: 30 minutes @ 350F

Ingredients:

• About 4 bell peppers
• 4 finely sliced small zucchini
• 1 diced large tomato
• 1 small diced onion
• 3 diced garlic cloves
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• asparagus tips
• crumbled feta cheese

Thank you tons to Ellen B for such an awesome post - check out her site (Ellen B Cookery)

Jalapeno Jelly and Brie Crescent Bites

I recent saw a post from a friend of mine, Ellen B (brie tartlets), that got me wanting some brie. I haven't had any in awhile, and being pregnant - once you've got a certain food on your mind - it's over. So I made these brie bites with some ingredients I had on hand. I received some Jalapeno Jelly a while back as a gift, and haven't put it to good use - so I used it in this recipe. They turned out awesome, I wish I had made more! But since it is only my husband and I eating them, it's a good thing that I only made 8. We ate them as an afternoon snack with some tea. The buttery crescent rolls with gooey brie and sweet/spicy jelly is a winner in my book. I will definitely be making these again. Maybe even for a party - they were very simple to make. Entertain can be a hassle sometimes, but with something as tasty and simple as these, bring it on! 


Once these were done baking, I noticed some of the cheese and jelly leaked out. Well since I'm not one to waste (especially cheese), I just spooned the drippings on top of the crescent rolls. It really made a difference, having a sweet spicy glaze on the outside. Yum! If you don't have jalapeno jelly, you could use red pepper jelly or if you prefer a fruit based jelly. I used Immaculate Baking Co. crescent rolls but you can use whatever kind of crescent rolls you'd like. These aren't super sweet or very cheesy. I kept the proportions pretty light but if you want to add extra cheese or jelly - I say do it. More glaze-y goodness to top them with.  

Jalapeno Jelly and Brie Crescent Bites

Cook Time: < 15 minutes
Prep: < 5 minutes
Serves: 8 rolls


Ingredients:

• 1 can of crescent rolls (should have about 8 rolls)
• 8 tsp of jalapeno jelly
• 2 oz brie

Preheat the oven according to directions for the crescent rolls.

Roll out the crescent rolls on parchment paper. Take 1 tsp of the jalapeno jelly and spread it evenly on the surface of each crescent roll. Top each crescent roll with a 1/4 oz of brie, at the larger end of the crescent dough. 

Take the larger end of the crescent and roll the dough towards the thinner end. Roll loosely. Place the side with the tip downwards. 

Repeat with all of crescents. Then transfer the parchment sheet onto a cookie sheet. 


Bake according to the directions on the crescent rolls container. 

Once they are baked, any excess cheese and jelly that ran out of the crescent roll, spoon on top of the baked crescent rolls. 


Serve warmed :) 

Nutritional Info per bite:
Calories: 135 ; Fat: 8g ; Carbohydrate: 14g ; Fiber: 0g ; Sugar: 6g ; Protein: 2g