Things are heating up on the blog today…
Today is the first day of Fiesta Fridays!! When I was doing my recipe development for the first couple months of the New Year I started thinking about how I can make all my favorite Mexican recipes healthier. I’ve come up with a long list and decided to start a new series on the blog called Fiesta Fridays! So for the rest of my time in Mexico, I will be sharing a Mexican recipe made healthier every Friday. With some rough math, that’s about 20 recipes leading up to June. And I’m sure that won’t be the end of my Mexican food obsession. It has deep roots.
Today we are starting out with Molletes. Molletes are often served on two halves of a toasted white French roll. I wanted to improve the nutritional content of the bread base first, so I replaced the refined white bread with seeded multigrain sandwich bread.
Next, you top the toasted multigrain bread with refried beans. You could use a canned variety here but I chose to make my own so I could control the type and amount of oil, as well as salt.
After the beans, it’s a generous crumble of queso fresco cheese. If you can’t find Mexican queso fresco, you could use cotija cheese or manchego. Really, most kinds of cheese would work here so choose your favorite.
Finally, it’s time for the toppings. I made a fresh pico de gallo salsa, which is made with onion, tomato, jalapeño chili, fresh cilantro, lots of lime juice and a pinch of salt.
Other toppings (that are pretty much mandatory) include a spicy salsa or tabasco sauce, slices of avocado, and lime wedges. Fresh and delicious!
Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think about the first Fiesta Fridays recipe. I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for future recipes you want to see made healthier. We are going to be eating a lot more Mexican food over the next couple months, so I hope you’re ready.
Come back next week for a classic Mexican hot drink that is made around Christmas time.
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- 2 cups cooked black beans
- 3/4 cup water plus 2-4 tablespoons more
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 small fresh tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
- juice of 1 large lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 slices hearty multigrain sandwich bread, toasted
- refried beans
- 2 oz. crumbled queso fresco, grated cotija cheese, or grated manchego
- fresh pico de gallo
- additional spicy salsa, optional
- sliced avocado
- lime wedges
- Add black beans, water and salt to a blender and blend until completely smooth. You do not want any bean pieces left. Add additional tablespoons of water one at a time until the beans blend smoothly in the blender. *You may need to use a spoon to mix the beans and water and get the blender going at first.
- Heat a large pan on medium heat and add olive oil. When hot, add bean puree. Whisk together slowly and cook until hot throughout.
- Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently to combine.
- Spread refried beans on the toast, crumble cheese on top, and top with pico de gallo and salsa. Serve with avocado slices and lime wedges.
Love everything about this! Can’t wait to share in your fiesta fridays 🙂 What a great idea Katie 🙂
Thank you, Emma! Lots more yummy recipes to come soon.