I might be sparking a debate here but… I have an addiction to Mexican Food, I blame it on living in Houston my whole life. Texas has the best Mexican Food in the world. Let me back up by saying our food here in Houston is technically Tex-Mex… but I think it is better than authentic Mexican. Tex-Mex is more flavorful to me… more cumin, cilantro, cheese and meat. I grew up eating Tex-Mex so authentic Mexican is a little bland in my humble opinion. Speaking of my opinion, I have tried “Mexican Food” in other parts of the country and it shouldn’t even be allowed to claim the name. Ask anyone who has left Texas what they miss and Mexican Food is on the list.
Tostadas are a favorite at our house and I think I have found the perfect order of ingredients :) I also like to use ground turkey instead of beef.
Turkey Tostadas:
-Tostada Shells
-Refried Black Bean (you need some glue)
-Ground Turkey (add a taco seasoning packet)
-Shredded Lettuce
-Homemade Pico
-Queso Fresco or Greek Yogurt (or both)
Homemade Pico
-2 tomatoes
-1 small white onion
-1 jalapeno
-1 bunch of cilantro
-juice of 2 limes
-1/2 tsp salt
Back to the controversy of Mexican Food. What do you like better? Have you had TexMex in Houston… why not? Do you live in an area where you “think” you are eating good Mexican Food :) And while I’m asking a bunch of questions… why do some restaurants call them Tostadas and some call them Chalupas? Same with Taquitos and Flautas?? Please discuss.
I always call them chalupas! Those look awesome! And I ALWAYS use plain fat-free greek yogurt in place of sour cream. I think it tastes so much better!
I always thought they were tostadas, from the “authentic”, hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints, but we have a Chuy’s in town now, and they call them chalupas. And the only time I ever heard anything called a chalupa prior to this was stuff from Taco Hell…
I have a question. How do you prepare your pico? I’ve been using my food processor but it makes it too soupy. Do you just hand chop everything? Or how do you keep it from getting soupy/salsa like?
I would double up on the jalapeno in ths recipe. There is way too much cilantro in the recipe. The cilantro should be stemmed and roughly chopped. No more than 1/3 cup is needed. Also, the tomatoes need to roughly chopped. All off the chopped ingredients should be appromiately the same size. A small amount of minced garlic wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
I always call them chalupas! Those look awesome! And I ALWAYS use plain fat-free greek yogurt in place of sour cream. I think it tastes so much better!
YUM! Well a chalupa to me means a fried & fluffy shell where a tostada means it’s a flat hard taco shell :)
I always thought they were tostadas, from the “authentic”, hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints, but we have a Chuy’s in town now, and they call them chalupas. And the only time I ever heard anything called a chalupa prior to this was stuff from Taco Hell…
I just saw your link at Not Just a Housewife- what a fun blog!
BTW, I totally love the “girl clothes”!
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
I have a question. How do you prepare your pico? I’ve been using my food processor but it makes it too soupy. Do you just hand chop everything? Or how do you keep it from getting soupy/salsa like?
Thanks!
Valerie
I would double up on the jalapeno in ths recipe. There is way too much cilantro in the recipe. The cilantro should be stemmed and roughly chopped. No more than 1/3 cup is needed. Also, the tomatoes need to roughly chopped. All off the chopped ingredients should be appromiately the same size. A small amount of minced garlic wouldn’t be a bad idea either.