Karyn's Kitchen

A Great Way To Squash Their Prejudice

I can help you sneak more veggies into your meals to get your family to enjoy eating more of them even if they don’t like them.

Wishing your family would eat more veggies? Here’s how to eat more vegetables when you don’t like them: Season them well and start subtly sneaking more of them into your daily meals. Small changes repeated over time can have a huge impact.

I talk a lot about hard squash because besides being nutritious, it lasts a long time in the refrigerator. Along with cabbage and root vegetables, it’s a superhero.

Let’s take one: butternut squash. What do you do with it? The simplest way to begin is to peel it, cut it up into bite sized pieces and roast it in the oven on a cookie sheet. You can season it up with some warming spices and serve it in a soup or as a side dish. One butternut squash offers a lot of flesh, so I can usually use it in a few meals if I desire. So often, I leave most of it plain when roasting (aside from salt and maybe some garlic powder) and sneak it into a main dish.

Brown Rice With Squash, Bacon and Onion

Brown rice with chunks of butternut squash and bits of bacon on a white plate

Here’s one example. We don’t eat bacon often and when we do, it’s generally a little at a time. Kept in the freezer, it’s easy to cut off an inch or two to put into a dish like this. I watched Ina Garten make risotto with butternut squash once and I enjoy that simple, comforting meal. We don’t always have arborio rice around the house, though, so I substitute it with a more nutrient dense and fiber rich brown rice. I always have that in my pantry. Below are the ingredients.

chopped bacon
onions
cooked brown rice
roasted butternut squash
French thyme
parmesan cheese

Brown the bacon in a pot and then add the onions and seasonings of your choice before adding rice and chicken stock or other liquid. Or if you have rice that has already been cooked, add it to the pot and heat through. Add cooked butternut squash and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese: A Sneakier Idea

If you think your family will balk at the chunks of squash pictured above, then try another approach. Do they like macaroni and cheese? Guess what! If they are used to yellow cheddar, you can puree the squash and sneak it into your mac and cheese. No joke. It’s delicious.

squash macaroni and cheese with red chard and chicken on a white plate

While boiling half a box of macaroni, I started the sauce in a skillet. I didn’t even have any milk on hand, so after cooking some chopped onions in a little butter, I added some oat milk and thickened with a little flour. Seasoned with salt, cayenne and French thyme. Mixed in about 3 cups of pureed squash and then a couple ounces of grated cheddar. I put that into a greased casserole dish and topped with a couple ounces more of cheddar before baking.

Compared to the amount of squash, I really used very little cheese here. But it was delicious, and no one missed it. I might even think of pureeing some white beans to add to the mix for some fiber. Yes, that works great in cream sauces! (Just don’t tell anyone what’s in it until after they try it.) Experiment with the proportions and seasonings and let me know what you think.

Trying to please a meat eater? Please read Take Your Burger Further With This Surprise Ingredient for another sneaky and mouth-watering idea.

How Are You Using All Those Extra Potatoes?

Vegan potato leek soup is a great way to use up your extra potatoes.

What do you do with all those potatoes you bought? Make vegan potato leek soup, of course! It can be served hot or cold and freezes well. Zero waste cooking starts here.

Sometimes I can find frozen, chopped leeks and that’s a real time saver. But fresh leeks are wonderful and can sit in your fridge for a while too. It’s often recommended to use only the white part of the leek because it’s the most tender, but I like to use as much of it as possible.

Handling Leeks

I learned from watching Jacques Pepin on PBS that after removing the toughest outer layer, you can cut diagonally the green part and progressively use more of the leek as you cut the layers deeper toward the center. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture to explain what I mean, so you can watch the legend himself demonstrate the technique here. Whatever you trim away can be put into a freezer bag for stock later. Zero waste cooking starts here.

Once you have cut away the toughest, outermost stem ends, slice the leeks into halves or quarters lengthwise and then cut them into smaller slices. Put them into a tub full of water and swish them around so that the dirt sinks to the bottom. Pull them out with your hands and repeat this process a couple times to make sure they are clean and free of grit.

Toss your cubed potatoes into a pot with some oil to get them started cooking. Then add the leeks and whatever herbs you like. Rosemary is great. I often use Herbs de Provence. Add some liquid, which could be chicken stock or vegetable stock. Let it simmer until the vegetables are tender.

I like a rustic texture, so I sometimes use a potato masher to mash some of the potatoes near the end of cooking. You could leave them in chunks or puree the whole thing. You could add some cream. It’s really up to you. If you wanted to serve it cold, I would recommend pureeing it. And a dollop of sour cream would also be welcome.

If you don’t use all the leeks you have cleaned and sliced, put them into the freezer for future use. You will thank yourself later for the work that you have already done. Work smarter, not harder.

For an idea on using up your leftover mashed potatoes, please read No Waste Begets Big Taste.

How to Serve Nearly Turnkey Turkey

Simplify your turkey dinner and serve healthy sides like roasted acorn squash.

As we all continue to re-examine what matters most, we may find ourselves simplifying in many areas of life. Take a traditional turkey dinner, for example. Do you really need a whole bird or might a breast be sufficient? How many side dishes do you need? Every family is different. In mine, mashed potatoes and gravy are non-negotiable. Dressing is desirable. Although Michael prefers peas with this dinner, I forgot to buy some last time I shopped and found that he was just as happy with spinach. Roasted acorn squash rounded out this delicious, simple meal.

turkey breast with mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, sautéed spinach and roasted acorn squash on a white plate

What About the Gravy?

The obvious issue with simply roasting a breast is that you have to make do without giblets and pan drippings to make gravy. So, we must improvise! In the freezer, I found that I had some chicken giblets and vegetable ends that could be boiled to start working on some gravy. After that had cooked down, I pureed the giblets and strained out the other solids. Then I combined the liquid and giblet puree with some stock from a carton and a bit of stew from Coq au Vin that I had made previously and put in the freezer. Voila! Adding that made just about the best gravy I have had in quite a while! Hooray for my treasure chest of freezer flavor gems and an effortless turkey dinner. Planning ahead makes for zero waste cooking.

Thickening Without Lumpiness

In a small cup, I put about a tablespoon of flour (or whatever amount is appropriate to the amount of gravy you’re making) and then whisk into it a small amount of the stock that is to become gravy. I ladle in just enough stock to make a paste at first and then a little more progressively while whisking to make a smooth slurry. Then add that to the pot of gravy. No lumps. Simply silky.

Dressing

What about dressing? Well, you might be able to squeeze a little under the skin of the breast, but not much, so put it in a casserole dish to bake. My mother-in-law puts pork sausage in hers and I think it’s delicious.

So first I toast some cubed French bread in the oven. Meanwhile I sauté chopped onions, celery and crumbled sausage in some butter in a skillet. Season with salt, sage, French thyme and Herbs de Provence. Once the bread is toasted, mix it together with the other ingredients and some chicken or turkey stock to moisten and pop it in the oven in a casserole dish during the last 30 minutes or so of roasting the turkey.

Roasted Acorn Squash

I decided to roast an acorn squash while I had everything else in the oven. It looks beautiful stuffed and served in halves, but we like it seasoned in bite sized pieces. So after peeling and chopping it, I seasoned it with:

salt
red pepper flakes
turmeric
coriander
ginger
cinnamon
cardamom
cloves

Tossed with oil and roasted on a sheet pan.

We enjoyed this turkey dinner and it didn’t require all day or many days to prepare, which is the beauty of simple meals. The biggest question is whether to serve red or white wine with it. Which do you prefer?

In case you wanted to know how to make the Coq au Vin that contributed to this excellent gravy, please read Don’t Whine, Cook Chicken With Wine next.

Why Not Buy Tri-Tip? It’s Hot!

Cooking tri-tip is as simple as preparing a steak.

What do you do when organic steaks are not available? Buy something else. Last time I went shopping, the only organic beef I could find aside from ground was tri-tip. I always enjoy tri-tip at restaurants, so why do I often neglect to buy it at the market? I guess I think of it as a barbecue meat, and since I don’t have a grill, I decide to leave cooking tri-tip to someone who does.

This reasoning doesn’t have any merit obviously. The main thing to understand is that tri-tip is a lean cut, so you really don’t want to overcook it. There are lots of recipes out there suggesting that a dry rub will help tenderize it. Let me know which is your favorite preparation.

Cooking Time for Tri-Tip

Examining my unusually small tri-tip, which was only a pound, I decided that I could treat it like a steak. For me that means heating a skillet in the oven at 500 and then putting the seasoned, oiled tri-tip on that hot skillet under the broiler. The steaks I usually buy take about 4 1/2 minutes using this method. As the tri-tip was bigger and thicker, I decided to start with 6 minutes and then evaluate. At that point, I decided to flip it over and cook an additional 4 minutes and then let rest on a warm plate for 15 minutes covered with foil. Learning to cook intuitively means you can gain confidence in cooking without a recipe.

I had considered searing and baking the tri-tip, but for one this small one, I decided it was unnecessary. I have seen general guidelines for handling a bigger tri-tip in that manner to be 10-15 minutes per pound and in this case 10 minutes under the broiler was just right.

tri-tip with potato salad, carrots and asparagus on a white plate

The time allowed for the meat to rest gives me a chance to put some vegetables on a cookie sheet to roast in the oven. And then of course I couldn’t waste the browned goodness left in my skillet. That’s a sauce waiting to happen. Diced onions and water help scrape up all that flavor. Wine or stock would be great instead, but I decided there was plenty going on here without it. Minced garlic and sliced mushrooms finish it off. Season with salt and enjoy the masterpiece you cooked without a recipe.

The tiny bit of leftovers topped a delicious salad for lunch the next day. Served with guacamole and chips, it was also a simple and satisfying meal.

Leftover tri-tip on a bed of greens with asparagus, carrots and potatoes with a side of guacamole on a white plate

Read Make Steak next for more on broiling steak and glamming up some veggies.

Esteemed Greens and Endearing Ears Are Here

Combine fresh, frozen and pantry items for simple meals like this pasta with greens anytime.

There is something so comforting about pasta. If I want to make it lower carb, I just ramp up the ratio of vegetables to pasta. With this orecchiette, little ear shaped pasta, it’s very easy to put more pasta into someone else’s bowl who wants it. More greens in mine. Who doesn’t love the versatility of pasta with greens?

I once had in an Italian restaurant: lamb sausage with rapini and orecchiette with brodo, which means broth. Although I love rapini, I have difficulty finding it even when it’s in season. So kale or another bitter green make a more frequent appearance in my house because everyone sells kale and if it’s fresh enough when purchased, it will stay fresh in my refrigerator for a couple weeks.

If you can’t find orecchiette, try another pasta shape such as small shells or elbow macaroni. What’s in your pantry that will lend itself to a simple meal?

I love sausage of all kinds too, but I don’t buy it very often. Other ground meats are more versatile and I usually have some in the freezer, so here’s what I do instead: use ground turkey or any other ground meat that I have on hand and season it up with spices you would find in sausage. In other words, I can usually make this dish with ingredients on hand from the pantry, freezer and refrigerator.

Ingredients for This Pasta With Greens:

ground turkey or lamb
minced garlic
salt
crushed fennel seeds
dried basil
oregano
thyme
paprika
red pepper flakes
lamb or chicken broth/stock
rapini or kale or other bitter greens
orecchiette or other short pasta

Brown the meat, add garlic and spices. Then I add some kind of broth. Here I used a little chicken broth and some lamb stock that I had in the freezer. Add the kale and let it simmer until it’s done to your liking. Cooking without a recipe is so fun and easy.

If you’re making pasta or any number of things that require boiling water, please put the pot of water on to boil before you begin the other prep work. You don’t want to be waiting around for water to boil when everything else is ready. Once your pasta is al dente, scoop it out with a spider and add to the pot or skillet that you have used to cook your meat and vegetables. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy!

A spider that you actually want to find lurking around your kitchen

The spider is helpful because it allows you to keep your salty, starchy pasta water in case you want to add a little to whatever pasta dish you are creating. I also find it quicker to wash than a colander. Win win!

Looking forward to finding some rapini this season. If you can get it, you might blanch it before adding to this dish in order to remove some of the bitterness. Depends on your palate, which is what cooking without a recipe is all about.

What’s your go-to dish that you can make with ingredients usually on hand? Here’s another simple meal with almost sausage and pasta.

Shockingly Good Pork Chops For All

Moist, flavorful pork chops will become one of your favorite simple meals.

When I was first married, I made the mistake of overcooking pork chops. Since then they haven’t been on my husband’s top ten list. Too bad…I enjoy them occasionally, but like anything that’s been overcooked, I don’t want them to end up dry and tough. Thankfully I learned how to make them moist and flavorful and you can also add them to your repertoire of simple meals.

Brining them has been a game changer and it’s the only way I prepare pork chops these days. I discovered this method on thekitchn.com a few years ago and will be forever grateful because since then, my pork chops are amazing.

Brining

A couple hours before cooking them, I make a brine (salt and water combined with spices) and let the pork chops marinate in it in the refrigerator. The ratio is 1 Tablespoon of coarse salt to 1 cup of water. Use less salt if it’s finely ground.

Start by heating 1 cup of water with 3 Tablespoons of salt to dissolve it along with any spices you choose. Here I added a bay leaf, rosemary, fennel and some red pepper flakes. I often use coriander and garlic.

Pour that solution into a shallow dish and then add 2 more cups of cool water. Let that come to room temperature and then submerge your pork chops in the brine. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Making lots of pork chops? Make more brine following the same ratio. Heat the total amount of salt needed to dissolve in one cup of water and then add the rest of the water needed to complete the brine and cool the solution.

Cooking the Chops

To cook, preheat the oven to 400. Then heat an ovenproof skillet on the stove. Once hot, pat pork chops dry and smear some oil on them. Place them into the skillet on the stovetop for a few minutes. Once they have gotten a bit of color on the underside, turn them over and place the skillet into the oven to finish cooking. My boneless pork chops only required 6 minutes in the oven. You will need a bit longer if your pork chops are thicker or contain a bone. Intuitive cooking without recipes starts with paying attention.

I really like something fruity with pork, so I decided to zest a mandarin orange and cook the zest in a skillet with olive oil and sliced onions. Seasoned with a little ground fennel and rosemary. Wilted spinach in there before tossing with pasta. I enjoy those flavors, the slight bitterness of the citrus zest juxtaposed with the sweet onion and spices. Michael requested mashed potatoes and gravy for next time…Am I surprised? LOL. He knows what he likes in these simple meals!

For an unexpected twist on those mashed potatoes for next time, please read No Small Potatoes next.

My Simple and Comforting Shepherd’s Pie

A great way to reinvent leftovers, shepherd’s pie is comforting and easy to make.

Ready for a comforting dinner for a cool evening? Michael likes to order Shepherd’s Pie along with a black and tan (Guinness Stout layered on top of Bass Ale) at a local British pub. You can make your own shepherd’s pie using leftover roast or other meat by adding vegetables, gravy and mashed potatoes. Bake it in a casserole dish and enjoy this simple meal tonight. It’s easy.

If you’re like me and try to dirty as few dishes as possible, you can start everything in an oven-proof skillet and bake it in said skillet. What could be better than a one pot dish using leftovers? It’s easy to decide what to cook for dinner tonight!

shepherd's pie on a white plate with greens. skillet in the background full of shepherd's pie

I had some pan juices left from a previous lamb roast and stock I had made using the bones, so that was the jumping off point for this dish. You can use beef stock or whatever style of gravy you have or can easily make. Don’t worry about what’s traditional. Just use what you think will taste good. My lamb stock had some tomatoes in it, which wouldn’t normally appear in a shepherd’s pie, but it created the base for a delicious gravy and that’s all that matters to me. That’s the foundation of zero waste cooking.

Preparation

First, boil your potatoes until fork tender. Drain, season and mash the way you usually would once they’re done. I use butter and plain yogurt. If you have leftover mashed potatoes, here’s a great way to reinvent them.

Then, I browned some ground beef in a skillet, added some minced garlic and some dried herbs: rosemary, French thyme and oregano. If your stock/gravy needed some more flavor, I would start with onions. In this case, my pre-existing pan juices/stock already had plenty of onion, so I skipped that.

Add whatever vegetables you like. I chopped up some carrots and tossed in some frozen peas. After pondering adding corn or mushrooms, I decided my skillet was already full enough especially after adding the stock.

I wanted to thicken up the stock, so I ladled a bit into a small cup and whisked in a dash of flour to combine. Added it back to the skillet. If you’re starting with gravy that’s already thick enough, that step would be unnecessary.

Finally, I plopped ice cream sized scoops of mashed potatoes on top of the surface and smoothed it out a bit with a spatula. Baked in the oven until everything had cooked down to the right consistency and the top was golden. How long was that? Probably about 50 minutes at 350. You know, I just keep an eye on things and timing will depend on the size and depth of your baking dish and how much and how thin your liquid was when you began. I call it intuitive cooking without a recipe.

Basic Ingredients:

ground beef or lamb
gravy base (i.e. lamb stock and pan juices)
mashed potatoes
peas
carrots
garlic
dried herbs( i.e. rosemary, French thyme and oregano)

What do you think of this simple shepherd’s pie? Ready for more comfort food and cooking without a recipe? Learn to Lighten Up Old School Comfort Food with my take on Beef Stroganoff.

How To Make Sushi Family Style

Family style sushi is the quintessential simple meal.

Being raised by a Japanese father, I have often been asked to prepare sushi rolls for parties of friends. Um, although I did it a couple of times, I must say it is not a thing that I particularly enjoy doing and I am not an expert at it. Easier to buy premade from someone who knows what they are doing. There are people who enjoy fussing with beautiful bite sized packages of food and although I appreciate the meticulous person who has labored over it for others’ enjoyment, I am not that person.

This does not mean that I can’t have a sushi party though…and so can you! I follow the lead of my Aunt Akiko who serves it “family style”. Trust me on this. It’s not only easier on the host, but it’s more fun for guests too. Add this to your repertoire of simple meals.

An oblong table with pink place mats and blue and white dishes set for a family of 7. Sushi rice and assorted sashimi with seaweed and vegetables are the centerpieces. — Aunt Akiko’s table is set for a family of 7

What You Need:

sheets of nori (seaweed): Label might read “Temaki” for “hand roll”
white rice
rice vinegar
sugar
salt
assorted cuts of sashimi (raw fish)
soy sauce
wasabi (horseradish paste)
any vegetables desired (such as shiso leaf, daikon sprouts, cucumber)
pickled ginger (“sushi shoga” for cleansing the palate)

Sushi rice in a black bowl, seaweed squares on a white plate and spicy tuna in a martini glass with a crispy rice bar in it. Decorative Japanese plate in the background.

Preparing the Rice:

This is the only work involved here. While cooking the rice according the directions on the package, prepare the seasoning by heating the 3 ingredients listed below just enough for the salt and sugar to dissolve. I always look up the proportions to make sure I get it right because if you have ever had sushi rice that had too much of one ingredient, you know that you don’t want to repeat that experience. Here’s what Alton Brown suggests on the Food Network and I think it’s a good rule of thumb:

For 2 cups of Uncooked Rice:

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Once the rice has finished cooking, put it into a non-metal bowl because you don’t want it to retain heat. Pour the seasoning over it and gently combine using a flat sided wooden utensil. If you have an assistant to fan the rice while you do this, it’s very helpful to cool it down, especially if you are preparing a large quantity of rice.

To Serve:

Now all you have to do is put the fish on a serving plate. On a big platter is appropriate for a large number of people, but if you’re just serving a couple of people, individual portions are fine too.

Assorted sashimi on a black plate with spicy tuna in a light blue bowl alongside sushi ginger and wasabi. Salmon roe in a martini glass next to ceramic blue and white soy sauce bottle.

Shown here: yellowtail, King salmon, Ahi tuna, Splendid alfonsino, spicy tuna and salmon roe.

Everyone Creates Their Own:

Cut or tear the sheets of seaweed into quarters or halves so that you have squares or rectangles.

Salmon and salmon roe top white rice on a square of seaweed on a white plate

Everyone dips their unique creations into their own individual dish of wasabi and soy sauce. The only question is whether to serve beer or sake or green tea. Are you ready to entertain with this idea or another simple meal?

Rihaku Nigori Sake bottle and glass half full in front of decorative Japanese plate

If you’re not a fan of sushi yet, try starting with a seared ahi as they commonly serve in restaurants. Learn how to make it by reading Ahi Tataki next.

How Do You Make Your Slab of Ribs?

Smart grocery shopping and cooking basics lead to a memorable, simple meal.

I don’t often make ribs. Michael loves them, but we usually order them from a takeout restaurant. So when I saw a slab of pork ribs on sale at the supermarket, I decided to buy some and try my hand. That’s smart grocery shopping.

I couldn’t remember the last time I made ribs, so I called a couple of friends who had served them in the past to find out their method. They said, “Barbecue.” Since I don’t have a barbecue, I searched the internet for an oven method. Ah, then I remembered. Low and slow in the oven makes the tenderest ribs that I like best. Why? I don’t particularly care for messy things that I have to pick up with my hands only for it to get stuck in my teeth. I think it’s much more civilized when you can cut the meat off the bone and it melts in your mouth.

So that’s what we have here. Michael doesn’t mind messy food, so he instinctively brought extra napkins to the table for this meal. But I am happy to say that they weren’t needed. Try it. You’ll like it.

Ribs with baked cheesy orecchiette and vegetables on a white china plate alongside coleslaw in a white cup

Yes, Michael is the real ribs lover in our household. Once he saw me preparing them, he started talking about the sides we usually order from our favorite place. So, to make him happy I made some coleslaw and a slimmed down version of mac and cheese. I had wanted to use some corn, green beans and carrots, so I mixed them together with some cooked orecchiette and a cheesy white sauce and popped that into the oven. I think this is about the easiest way to sneak some extra veggies on your kids…or husband. Who doesn’t like pasta and cheese? Anyone can learn how to eat more vegetables even if they think they don’t like them.

Preparing the Ribs

So, here’s how I handled the ribs: First I removed the excess fat and the membrane from the underside. Then I seasoned both sides with salt and garlic powder. Wrapped the ribs in foil and put them on a cookie sheet. Baked at 275 for 2 1/2 hours and then opened the foil to check on them. They were tender, so I opened the foil, poured some barbecue sauce on them and baked at 350 for another 30 minutes. I put both the ribs and the cheesy veggie pasta under the broiler for a couple minutes to get a little color on them.

I must say that I really enjoyed these and I didn’t even put barbecue sauce on mine. Michael is a saucy guy, but I didn’t find it necessary.

The only thing missing above were some barbecued beans and greens…so with the little bit of ribs left over, we had that the next night. I took some pinto beans out of the freezer that I had previously cooked. After defrosting in the refrigerator, I added some barbecue sauce to them. Voila! Another simple and tasty dinner without any fuss. For details on those delicious pinto beans, please read Pinto Beans Mean Big Win For Me. Smart grocery shopping starts with fresh ingredients and stocking a pantry well.

Pork ribs with braised kale, pinto beans and biscuit on a white plate

Pinto Beans Mean Big Win For Me

Want to know how to cook pinto beans? It’s easy and you don’t need a recipe.

I keep forgetting to buy refried beans in a can and that’s what my husband wants for tostadas. On the other hand, I had a 2 pound bag of dried pinto beans, so why not cook them? Michael balked, “You can’t make refried beans from scratch.” Um…I am sure millions of Mexicans would disagree. Do I have a family recipe? No, but I was sure I knew how to cook pinto beans that would be delicious and form the basis for multiple simple meals.

I didn’t have to use the whole bag of beans at once, but I had 8 ounces of chopped ham in the freezer that would flavor them up, so I decided to cook all two pounds after inspecting them and soaking overnight. We could eat the whole beans the first day and I could mash some up another day. The rest could go into the freezer for later.

I began by cooking a gigantic diced onion in some olive oil in a big pot. To that I added a couple of stalks of celery and half a bell pepper, chopped. Minced some garlic and added two frozen cubes of chipotle and the bits of ham. Beans and enough water to cover them. Let simmer for a few hours. No sweat. Cooking without a recipe is easy and fun.

Pinto beans with rice and salsa next to tortillas with cheese on a white plate

Spices I Used:

3 bay leaves
dried oregano
dried thyme
cumin
paprika

As for making these “refried style” a couple days later, for me that meant pureeing some beans in the food processor with some salsa and crushed coriander and simmering in a nonstick skillet until they reached the desired consistency.

3 bean tostadas on a white plate — Tostadas with homemade “refried” beans

I apologized to Michael about not having any cilantro or ripe avocadoes, but he said the beans were so good that he didn’t miss those ingredients. Hmm…fine praise from a guy who believed refried beans must come from a can!

To learn our method of making the tostada shells, please read Michael’s Famous Tacos. They could be the inspiration for many simple meals.

Here’s how the tostada base will look before adding the beans:

Baked corn tortillas with cheese alongside half an avocado on a white plate — Baked tortillas with cheese

After putting some of these whole pinto beans into the freezer, they reappeared later with the addition of a little barbecue sauce. Hello barbecued beans with ribs and greens! I love cooking once for multiple simple meals that everyone loves.

Find out how to make this slab of ribs next.