Chipotle Beef Tostadas

I was pretty excited about making this meal last night (I love mexican style dishes) and adding a few of my own extra touches onto the original recipe. I was curious though because this calls for zucchini which I thought was different. Since we like things spicy I added chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with the seeds left in and they give this dish a spicy & smoky flavor. We wound up with another tasty dinner.  Here's the link for the original recipe:  Chipotle Beef Tostadas.

and here's how we made it...

ingredients
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large white onion, minced
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp chipotle chile flakes (you can also use regular chile powder too)
• 2 chipotles peppers in adobo sauce (leave seeds in if you want it spicy), chopped
• 10 oz can hot rotel (you can also use regular or mild if you don't like it spicy)
• 15 oz can pinto beans drained (don't rinse, just let them sit in a mesh colander in sink until you are ready to use them)
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 1 cup coleslaw (I buy the precut stuff in bag in produce section)
• Juice of 1 1/2 limes, plus wedges for serving
• Tostada shells
• 1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (tip: buy the block of cheese and shred yourself - it'll save $ and taste better)
• cilantro leaves for topping

directions
1. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add oil once pan is hot. Then add beef, 1/2 onion, salt, chile powder, peppers and cook until meat is browned, about 7 minutes. Break up the meat with a spoon/spatula as it cooks down.
2. Next, add the rotel, beans and zucchini an cook for 6 minutes until zucchini is tender, about 6 minutes.
3. While the meat is cooking, toss the coleslaw mix with lime juice and salt and pepper in a bowl. After about 10 minutes go ahead and stir up again and taste to see if it needs more salt and pepper.
4. Spoon the beef mixture on top of a tostada and top with cheese, onion, cilantro and squeeze a lime wedge over each tostada.

We both really enjoyed this one! Q looked over at me while we were eating and said "Babe, I was a little weirded out by the ingredients when you were cooking this, but it is AWESOME - good job!" Ahhh, I love it when that happens! I love that he is willing to try anything and not a picky eater- Win!

A tip regarding the tostada shells - I think they come 20 to a bag or so.. If you end up with leftovers from the leftovers in this meal, a great use up is to use them for breakfast. They make a great little plate for scrambled eggs with cheese and some avocado on top. Yum :-)

Enjoy!