When I lived in Houston, I took a Spanish conversation class and was invited over to my teacher’s home for the closing class party where she served “Tostadas.” It was like the fishes and loaves; we started with a few groceries which expanded into a beautiful and plentiful spread after only minimal effort. When I moved to San Antonio, I noticed that same flat crispy tortilla showing up to entertain large family and friend gatherings. Here, they refer to it as, “Chalupas.” Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe, tostada, chalupa…it’s a essentially a Tex-Mex version of build-a-pizza. Start with the most important ingredient: the tostada/chalupa shells. Spread warm refried beans on the shell as the base for culinary expression and create from there using grated cheese, greens or shredded cabbage (our family likes the neutrality and nutrition of baby spinach), seasoned meat (my new delicious discovery: order bbq sliced brisket “to go” and ask them to chop it ahead) your favorite salsa, guacamole, sour cream…you decide your chalupa’s artistic destiny.
~Lauren
