Tostada

Six days to go until my holiday and I’ve managed to gain 2lbs so I officially give up, food simply tastes too damn good to be thin. The people of Greece are just going to have to deal with my slightly soft, plump physique. On the bright side though, now I’ve stopped caring I can look forward to shovelling platefuls of Greek salad and spanakopita into my gob, blissful.
But enough about Greece, let’s talk Mexico and this tremendous salad. It was my friend Rosie’s idea, I wanted to make some sort of salad thing but wasn’t feeling particularly inspired, that was until she suggested making my own tortilla bowl. Now that’s more like it! Armed with her mum’s recipe I hurried home and came up with this little corker. So thanks Annie (Rosie’s mum) your vegetarian cooking has inspired, intrigued and even scared me over the years (the less said about your butter bean soup the better) but you taught me a lot about vegetarian cooking and helped me become the cook I am today. Thanks Annie!

Mexican tostada salad
Serves 2 / Hands on time 40 mins / Total time 40 minutes / V
You’ll need: 6 inch oven-proof bowls X2
2 soft tortillas
Bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 corn on the cob or 1 can of sweetcorn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
½ cucumber, cut into chunks
3 spring onions, sliced
1 avocado, cut into chunks
50g vegetarian cheddar, grated
1 cos lettuce, chopped
½ red chilli, deseeded and diced
Dressing
1 lime
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Tabasco
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6. To make the tortillas you will need 2 oven-proof bowls. If you don’t have any, simply use a cake tin or a small/medium metal saucepan (without a plastic handle). Spray one side of your tortilla with oil and nest it, oil side down, in your chosen vessel. If your tortilla isn’t holding a nice bowl shape then use balled up bit of foil to prop it up at the sides. If it’s caving in on itself place a large ball of foil in the centre of your tortilla. Spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes. Once cooked put to one side and leave to cool in their tins.
2. Meanwhile, boil the corn on the cob in a large saucepan for 8 mins. Once cooked, drain and leave to rest on a tea towel or plate to cool.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and put to one side and wash the black beans in a colander. Leave to drain.
4. Once the cobs are a little cooler I like to char mine (although this is optional). Insert a fork firmly into one end of the corn and rotate it slowly over and open flame on the cooker until it is slightly charred. Alternatively you can grill if you don’t have a gas hob. Once the corn is cool enough to handle, stand it upright on a chopping board and slice down the sides with a sharp knife to remove the kernels.
5. Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, chilli, coriander and spring onions and add them to a large bowl along with the dressing, charred corn and the black beans. Season generously with salt and pepper and give it all a good stir.
6. Line your tortilla bowls with chopped lettuce and fill with your Mexican salad mix. Top with grated cheese and serve.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.