Shrimp Tostadas

I’ve probably told this story before, but in my single girl days I lived on Taco Bell cuisine ~ it is considered cuisine, right? I have no shame in saying this. It was cheap (still is) and good (still is) and in those days I wasn’t much of a cook. Win-win-win. I had a couple of favorites from that neon lit menu board that saw me both at meal time and for late-night snacks. One favorite was the bean burrito. The other was the bean tostada. Are you seeing a pattern? Though I still have a sincere appreciation for Taco Bell, my tastes have evolved (thankfully) and so have my cooking skills (“yes, thankfully” said my family in a loud chorus!) but I still love a good tostada, especially this Shrimp Tostada.

These days I prefer black beans to pinto and seafood or chicken over beef, which brings me to this Shrimp Tostada. It not only embodies one of my favorite cuisines – Mexican – but it’s made exactly the way I like it — and how often can you say that?

Flour tortillas are always a staple in my refrigerator. I say always though there was one time when I was making enchiladas. I made my homemade enchilada sauce, cooked the chicken and vegetables and was ready to start assembling when I realized I had no tortillas.  This is what’s known these days as a First World Problem, but because I’m not super close to a grocery store, I did the next best thing. I went next door to my neighbor’s house. She not only had flour tortillas but hadn’t eaten dinner yet – a mutually beneficial arrangement. She brought over some flour tortillas. the enchiladas were rolled, baked, smothered in cheese and sauce and within a few minutes none of us could remember how hungry we had been.

But I digress. . .back to the Shrimp Tostadas. To keep things simple and make this an any night meal, I opted to use store-bought tostada shells. If you forgot to buy tostada shells, hopefully you have a neighbor. . .or a store nearby.

This recipe adapts easily for any number of people, literally from 1 to 100 ~ or more! Here’s the breakdown per tostada. One tostada is plenty for me, but if you have bigger appetites in the crowd, put out a few more.

Let’s get these Shrimp Tostadas going!

Start by drizzling a bit of olive oil over 5-7 medium size raw, peeled and deveined shrimp giving them a good rub so they’re covered. Note: you’ll need 5-7 shrimp per tostada. Gently and lightly sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika and (optional) cayenne pepper. In a large skillet, warm a drizzle of olive oil then add the shrimp in a single layer. Cook about 2 minutes per side, squeeze a wedge of lime over the top, then remove them from the skillet.

In the same skillet, add 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen corn and sauté over medium heat allowing the corn to brown slightly. When the corn is cooked, remove it from the skillet and add the refried beans to the same skillet. It’s not necessary to season the corn or refried beans because they’ll pick up the same spices from the shrimp. Once the beans are warm, begin assembly:

Spread a layer of warm refried black beans onto the tostada then top with corn.

Add a layered of shredded lettuce. . .

tomatoes. . .

shrimp and cheese. For added spice, I drizzled Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dressing (sour cream is another option if you’d prefer) and topped it with a slice of jalapeno. 

I’m ready to dig into this all over again! I should point out that this is the way I prefer my Shrimp Tostadas. Feel free to customize as you like. Here are a few options: 

Avocado or guacamole

Sour cream

Onions

Shredded cheese

Salsa

If you make this, drop a comment and let me know how you like it or how you customized your Shrimp Tostada. Ole´!

 

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