Hey hey hey! Who had a super busy day today? Me, me, me!!! I almost started researching local restaurants towards the end of the day, so that I could pick up dinner on my way home. I stopped myself when I thought of all the [random] ingredients I had at home, and I decided to put a little faith in my creative cooking skills (ha!). Well, I’m happy to report that my home cooked dinner was delicious. I don’t really know what to call this meal, so for now I’ll just refer to it as the crispy tortilla bowl. All I did was break a crispy tortilla into pieces and top it with red kidney beans, salsa, reduced fat Mexican blend cheese, veggie bacon, and chili powder.
Now you may be wondering what the heck a crispy tortilla is, so first, let me show you…
I absolutely love homemade tostadas and Mexican pizzas, but I hate the oiliness of deep fried or even pan fried tortillas. If you’re like me, I have a special trick for you! All you need to crisp up your favorite tortillas are two sheets of paper towels (per tortilla) and a microwave. Just place the tortilla between the two paper towels, ensure that it’s completely flat, and microwave for 30 seconds. Then flip it over and zap it for another 30 seconds. I usually have to flip and zap about three or four times before my tortillas get crispy, but it really depends on your microwave. Keep an eye on it and remember, the tortilla will continue to crisp up as it cools. Pretty neat huh?! No extra oil needed! I love this trick! And the tortilla crisp tastes great – very cracker like.
Dinner really was as simple to make as I described it. The only things I needed to prepare beforehand were the tortilla and the bacon, which I just cooked up on the stovetop. Before I topped my bowl with the bacon and chili powder, I microwaved it for about 1.5 minutes to melt the cheese. Here are a few pictures of tonight’s dinner…YUM!
All layered up!
All mixed up!
What’s your favorite type of cuisine? If I had to pick, Indian and Mexican would definitely be the top two!
cleaneatingchelsey says
March 15, 2011 at 9:25 pmI love crisping up tortillas and then cutting them into wedges for chips! That’s my faovirte since I can never find any gluten/corn free tortilla chips!
Mimo says
March 15, 2011 at 10:07 pmHmmm. Good one. I’d add Thai food to the list.
Shanna, like Banana says
March 15, 2011 at 10:47 pmI had the same sort of day, but I DID succomb to buying food out, but that’s because I’m on work travel and don’t have access to my fridge 😉
Mexi food beats all! Also love Italian, Indian, and Chinese. And the spicier the better for all my eats!
Ashley @ 365 things says
March 15, 2011 at 10:55 pmWhat a great idea. I usually heat the oven up to crisp mine, I’ll be trying this next time. Do you use flour or corn tortillas in the microwave? Do you think either one would work?
Parita says
March 16, 2011 at 6:41 amI have only used this trick with whole wheat and flour tortillas. I don’t see why corn wouldn’t work though.
Priyanka says
March 16, 2011 at 12:50 amI honestly can never decide my favorite cuisine between Indian, Mexican and Chinese. Lets say all three are my favorites.
Your dinner looks so good. Isn’t it lovely when we come up with an amazing creation from just a few pantry items.
Angela (the diet book junkie) says
March 16, 2011 at 8:16 amthanks so much for the tip! (i hate fried stuff too.) i think my favorite cuisines are Japanes, Thai, and Vietnamese.
Cami says
March 16, 2011 at 8:29 amThat sounds amazing!! I just found your site this morning and I really like it. You are so positive, and the quotes and thoughts that you post are really inspiring.
Anyways…haha…if I had to pick, I think that I could narrow my favorite cuisines down to the top two, and it’s a tie between Italian and Mexican!
Parita says
March 17, 2011 at 7:12 amThanks, Cami!!! I’m glad you found me and that you find my blog positive…that was my intent!! Hope you enjoy reading. 🙂
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons says
March 16, 2011 at 10:38 amindian, mex, greek, and thai are my favorites =) what a cool trick~!!!!!!
Alexa @ Simple Eats says
March 16, 2011 at 4:29 pmThis looks amazing! I love making Mexican bowls for dinner! I can’t wait to try out this trick!
Jenny says
March 16, 2011 at 6:22 pmI definitely love Mexican too, and Italian 😀
Courtney @ The Granola Chronicles says
March 16, 2011 at 7:07 pmI love Mexican and Indian too! PLUS Thai – mm! 🙂
Lorie Kaiser says
November 24, 2013 at 4:24 pmThanks, making tosdadas w/out oil today. Like Mexican, English, Italian, French, scandinavian, Chinese/Japanese, mid eastern and American foods (European). Dislike Some Thai foods, spicy food, and peanuts in cooking
amelia says
February 2, 2015 at 1:04 pmpop the raw tortilla in the toaster. it works best with frozen and also larger ones. smaller warm tortillas sometimes get caught-be sure to unplug the toaster before rescuing them.