Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
These vegan tostadas are a colorful celebration of food, with layers of crispy, fried tortillas, smooth white bean puree, bitter, fresh arugula, delicately spiced pink hibiscus flower, rich avocado, and briny tofu crumbles. The star of this creation is the hibiscus flower “meat”, which is often just a by-product of making hibiscus flower tea. No more- from now on you’ll be seeing hibiscus tea as a by-product of making tostadas!
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You Can Eat Hibiscus???
Who knew, right? But dark pink hibiscus has a long history in Mexican cooking as a meat substitute on tacos and other dishes. Hibiscus flowers, or Flor de Jamaica, are more commonly used as a drink (agua de jamiaca) but use as a meat substitute hasn’t seemed to make it to the United States yet. If you do want to eat hibiscus as a meat alternative, the first step is to brew them into a strong tea, which removes the strong, sour flavor of the hibiscus. After that, the hibiscus will have a slight lemony flavor, which marries well with the other flavors we’ll cook it with for our vegan tostadas. But the hibiscus is mostly all about the texture- it has a great stringy, soft, and a little chewy texture, not to mention a beautiful dark purple/red color.
Did you know a lot of flowers are edible? Check out this Flower-Power Inspiration!
Got Tortillas? Try one of these recipes!
- Homemade Mushroom Tortillas
- Easy Air Fried Crispy Potato Tacos
- Simple Seitan Fajitas
- Wild Oyster Mushroom Tacos with Purple Cabbage Slaw
- Boot Kickin’ Cauliflower Taco Recipe
About the Tostada
I like to do a little research about the foods I make, and learn about their history and origins. Tostada means just what it sounds like, “toasted”. They were invented for the same reason foods like fried rice or pane cotto, as a way to prevent food waste by using foods a little past their prime. In the tostadas case, it was a good way to use tortillas that have become too stale to use as tacos. Tostadas have actually been eaten in Mexico for over 2,000 years, with all sorts of toppings. These days, tostadas aren’t usually made with stale tortillas but are instead typically deep-fried tortillas with piles of toppings. They’re a messy and fun food, so lets get cooking!
How to Make Vegan Tostadas
I’m going to warn you now- this is not a quick recipe. This isn’t a 10 ingredients or less, under 30 minutes, weeknight friendly type of meal. There are several different elements that need to be made, a few of which require some time. So this recipe is for those who love cooking, and who enjoy experimenting with new ingredients, and who is willing to go the extra mile for delicious food. Timing wise, make sure to get the hibiscus meat and quick queso fresco going first, as they will take the longest.
Vegan Tostada Elements
- The Shell You can buy premade tostada shells, but stale old fried tortillas aren’t my idea of a good meal. We make our own tostada shells by deep-frying corn tortillas. Just let them cook in the hot oil, pushing it under with the tongs until they become golden.
- White Bean Puree right on top of the crispy shells, we’ve put a simple white bean puree. It’s just beans (cannellini or great northern), simmer for a while, and use an immersion blender to make a silky puree.
- Arugula a little bit of bitter arugula adds some fresh flavor to the tostada.
- Hibiscus “Meat” The hibiscus meat is more about the texture than the flavor. First step is to steep a strong hibiscus tea, and save that for later. I love to dilute it with water and have it as a drink. Keep the flowers, and stirfry them with spices.
- Avocado for a bit of extra creaminess and color, thin slices of avocado are next on the tostada top.
- Quick Queso Fresco This tofu crumble is by no means a queso fresco, but I like to think of it as a quick alternative. Crumbled tofu is cooked in a salty broth and then tossed in nutritional yeast.
Hibiscus Flower and White Bean Vegan Tostadas
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup dried hibiscus flowers
- 7 oz. firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1 tsp. white miso paste
- ½ tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp. soy sauce, divided
- 1 tsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 small onion, divided
- 5 cloves of garlic, divided
- 1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. epazote
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- ½ tsp. Mexican oregano
- 8 small corn tortillas
- 1 cup arugula
- 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Olive oil, as needed
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the hibiscus flowers, and place in a medium pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 30 minutes or more. Strain the liquid from the solids (save the liquid to drink!), and rinse the solids under cool water until the water draining off is no longer red, but clear or almost clear. Set aside.
- In the meantime, start with the tofu. Bring two cups of water to a boil, and add 1 tbsp. salt, 1 tsp. soy sauce, along with the miso paste and apple cider vinegar. Whisk well. Crumble the tofu into the brine, in pieces about the size of a penny. Let boil for 5 minutes, then drain. Toss the tofu in the nutritional yeast, and set in the fridge to cool.
- Start on your beans- add a small amount of oil to a pot, and sauté 2 cloves of minced garlic and ½ an onion, diced. Once slightly softened, add the drained beans and ½ cup of water. Simmer for a few minutes, then puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt, to taste, and set aside.
- Head back to the hibiscus flowers- add a little olive oil to a pan, and add the remaining garlic, minced, and the other onion half, cut into thin slices. Once the onions have softened, add the epazote, smoked paprika, cumin and Mexican oregano, and stir. Next add the drained hibiscus and soy sauce, and sauté for around 10 minutes, until the hibiscus is nice and soft.
- Next it’s time to make the tostada shells- heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet or pot a little larger than your tortillas. Once its hot, place a tortilla in the hot oil, flipping it after a minute or so. Once the tortillas have become golden, remove the tortilla from the oil, set on a draining rack and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- It’s finally time to assemble the tostadas! Place a large spoonful of white bean puree on the tostada shell and spread to the edges. Add a small pile of arugula. Next add a couple tablespoons of the hibiscus meat. On top of that add a few slices of avocado. Finally sprinkle some of the tofu crumble on top and serve with your favorite hot sauce.
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