Quick Bean Tostadas ~ perfect for an easy Cinco de Mayo meal ~ or your Meatless Monday

My son has become a Mexican food lover, just like me.  Now, one of our family's favorite meatless meals is ~ Quick Bean Tostadas.  I love that my son will eat a bunch of veggies piled up on top of the tostada shell with no complaints what-so-ever and that the whole meal can be assembled in just a little over 5 minutes.  It makes for a really fast option for a meal, great for when we all get home famished ~ it's also an easy meal to create for just one.  Flexible, I like that in a recipe.

My son loves that he can assemble his own tostadas if he wants to, and he thinks that it's really cool to be eating a meal on what is essentially an edible tortilla plate.  Now that I think about it ~ I think that's pretty cool, too!  :)

Since the Mexician celebration ~ Cinco de Mayo ~ is just a week away, I thought this would be the perfect Meatless Monday meal to share on the blog.  Can you make this meal way fussier and fancier?  Absolutely ~ but I really don't see the need.  This version works for my family and when I use a bag of pre-shredded cheese, canned fat free refried beans and 'cook' it using the microwave ~ it couldn't be simpler.  Simple is good, especially when you've got two hungry 'boys' (son & dad) to feed.  Enjoy!

Quick Bean Tostadas

serves as many as you like

Ingredients

• one 12 count box of ready-to-serve Tostadas (I like Old El Paso ~ compact box, 4 tostadas that are ready from the microwave in 45 seconds, they taste nice & crispy, they're cheap and they have a 'Boxtop for Education' coupon. Thumbs-up all around!)
• one can of fat free refried beans (or your favorite smashed beans)
• your favorite shredded cheese (bagged for your convenience or fresh grated)
• chopped lettuce (same as above, fresh chopped or pre-bagged)
• chopped tomatoes
• sliced olives (optional ~ my son & I LOVE them, but my hubby despises them ~ to each their own)
• fat free Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional ~ see above, but replace son for hubby in the I-can't-stand-that-on-my-food mention)
• hot sauce of choice

Directions

Assemble the prepared tostada toppings ~ lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, olives, yogurt/sour cream, hot sauce. (I put all mine around the chopping board for quick assembly) Heat the canned refried beans in the microwave (or sauce pan if you've got the time) until they're hot, give 'em a stir, then cover to keep them warm and set aside.  Heat the tostadas in the microwave following the directions on the box.

Spread the warm refried beans on the now crispy tostadas and load 'em up as you see fit.  We can wipe out at least 4 each.  So, depending on how large/hungry your family is, increase the amount of food as necessary.  (we are Mexican food gluttons around here, so I say more is better! :)

P.S. ~ Search my blog for lots of other Mexican meals that we enjoy ~ some are meatless, some are not ~ but they are ALL ones we enjoy eating !