Easy, Ridiculous Vegetarian Tostada w unsuspecting ingredient

I recently entered the “Chopped At Home Challenge”.  This challenge, was actually the BEST success story of mine, yet.  I am going to tell you the “box” of ingredients that was given, and then I will tell you, with this “box” I made, what my Husband calls, “your best tacos yet”.  Mind you, they were made, totally by winging it, and made with an ingredient that I have never cared for, or honestly never purchased, because, well I never cared for it. lol.  So, let’s get to it…

For this past week’s challenge of mine, I decided to do the challenge from the show “Chopped”.   They gave us the ingredients of Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend of cheese, Cous Cous, Salsa, and Chicken Tenders.

I have never liked Cous Cous.  I can only tell you, that maybe it is because either its a texture thing, which is wierd because I like quinoa, but maybe the other reason is because I have never had it seasoned, or taste to my liking.  Well, I guess I changed my own outlook with this delicious and surprising dish!

It literally came down to the wire.  I had known about this challenge for about a week, and honestly, as it always does, the week went by.  I pulled up the Food Network “Chopped At Home Challenge” link, and realized OMG, I had 24 hours to enter.  I would go to the market the next morning, like I always do on Saturday’s, and really the only thing that I needed was Cous Cous and the Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend, since I had Chicken Tenders in my freezer, and of course I would be making my own home made salsa.  I pulled out my chicken to defrost, and ended up running around for the rest of the day.

Here it was, about 5 pm on a Saturday evening, and I honestly had no idea what I was going to do just yet.  So I laid all of my ingredients out, and it comes to me.  A traditional tostada/taco in some parts of Mexico, is usually started by laying a thick slather of black beans or refried beans down on the slightly fried tortilla, and piled with cheese, some pico, and maybe some meat.   I have no idea what made me think that I could possibly make this just by using Cous Cous, but I did.  So that was what I was going to make.  A real “traditional” “cous cous” tostada.  Here I could utilize the cheese, salsa and chicken!  I would just get innovative with the flavors, and make it a great and unusual tostada.  Something you would never think of.

For this easy and absolutely delicious tostada/taco, you can make with the chicken or Vegetarian, they are THAT flavorful, it doesn’t even need meat!   Now let’s get to it!

What You Need:

* Sargento Cheese

* Cous Cous

* Chicken Breasts or Tenders (Optional)

* Salsa (home made fresh pico is the best and so easy!)

* Corn Tortillas

* Cilantro

* Chicken Broth

* Vegetable Oil

* Fresh Lime

* Cumin

* Salt and Pepper

* Avocado (optional but great with this)

How To:

* For Salsa, you can make your own super easy and fresh pico de gallo, all with just 3 ingredients that you probably already have at home.  Tomato, onion, cilantro.  That is it!

* Let’s start cooking the Cous Cous!  In a pot, start about 2 Cups water and bring to a boil.  This will be for 1 cup of uncooked cous cous.  Always remember its just like rice, 2 to 1 ratio water to cous cous.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or whatever your instructions say,  stirring occasionally.  When it is just about done, add a tiny bit of butter, and season with salt.  Stir and let rest and cool.

* For your chicken tenders(optional).  Season chicken tenders with cumin, salt and pepper liberally on both sides.  In a large saute pan, add a tiny bit of vegetable oil to your pan, turn on medium heat and add chicken.  Cook on each side for about 5-8 minutes, depending on how thick your pieces are.  If you are using bigger breasts (har-har) you will need to cook longer.  When your chicken is JUST about done, add fresh garlic, cook for about 1 minute more on medium heat, and then turn your heat up a tiny bit higher, and squeeze the juice of about 1/2 of a lime directly on to your chicken, and some in your pan.  It should sizzle a tiny bit, cook for 1 minute longer, and then turn down or off heat.  Let cool and check to make sure your chicken is fully cooked.  Set aside on an additional plate.

* In a blender, add your 1 cup cooled cous cous, about 1 Tablespoon of Cumin, and about 1-2 Tablespoons of freshly chopped cilantro (this is for a slight bit of freshness, not to over power the cous cous, so a little goes a long way).  Pulse that together for about 10 seconds.  Now we are going to add a tiny bit of chicken broth, so you get more of a puree/paste so to speak, of your cous cous.  It needs to be the texture of refried beans basically.  This should literally take you only about 1 minute total.  If you are worried about the cilantro, start with just a tiny bit at at time, as for some people cilantro can be a bit strong.  Once you have  the perfect texture, taste and see if it may need a dash of salt.

* In the same pan that you cooked your chicken (if you used chicken), add a tiny bit more of vegetable oil, and turn heat to medium to high.  Taking about 2-3 corn tortillas at a time, we are just going to lightly cook them for about 30 seconds on each side, or however you prefer them.  In my family, we like our tortillas burnt! Lol.

* To plate put a nice portion of your cous cous puree right on top of your slightly crispy corn tortilla.  Add your Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend, and chicken if you are using.  Top with some fresh pico de gallo salsa and serve with some nice ripe avocado.

These tacos are so simple, yet taste spectacular.  My husband wanted me to make more cous cous, so he could have more tacos.  He literally said these were my best tacos yet.  And that is in comparison to my asada, al pastor, and carnitas tacos, which I make quite frequently.  And to make matters even BETTER, is the fact that we were both not huge fans of Cous Cous, but we are now!  Enjoy! 🙂