A tostada inspiration on a California road
Tostadas layered with crunchy vegetables, beans, and poultry, a popular Tex-Mex dish, are all overCalifornia menus. In some versions, the crisp corn tortillas are topped with guacamole, then slipped into a hot oven with plenty of Jack cheese, which melts onto the cool avocado. In Napa Valley recently, Sheryl had the quintessential tostada at Mustards Grill along St. Helena Highway, a
bustling roadside restaurant where tourists go to recover from wine tastings. A large and very crisp corn tortilla had been spread with spicy black beans, strips of grilled mahi mahi, and then a heap of something that resembled a slaw with lettuce and strips of red bell peppers. At home, we thought, the dish would be cumbersome, so we pared it down, substituting broiled swordfish for mahi mahi on the grill, a hot oven tocrisp the tortillasinstead of a shal-low bath of oil,and canned black beans with canned chipotles rather than the long-simmered legumes and fresh chilies. This way, the dish is a quick family supper. Use strips of pork,roast chicken, or steak in placeof the swordfish and then change the dish to suit otherleftovers.
