Tilapia Tostadas

Last weekend Amanda highly recommended a chicken tostada recipe she had tried. Initially I had all intentions of picking up a rotisserie chicken and making this recipe as is, but then I remembered I had some tilapia in the freezer and plans changed. Who was I kidding? When was the last time I left a recipe as is? I also didn't want to shred the lettuce, because I figured I would already have enough dirty dishes without using my food processer, so I left it out. I know, I could have purchased already shredded lettuce, but I made up my mind that I just didn't want lettuce on my tostada. Feel free to add some to yours, but I was pretty darn happy with the lettuce free end product. My husband ate his first tostada in approximately 20 seconds, I honestly don't think he tasted it, but he slowed down for the second one and really enjoyed it and even noticed a little spice. Keep reading for my Tilapia Tostada recipe adapted from this Chicken Tostada Recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
4 medium tomatoes, quartered
2 serrano chiles, stems removed
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup & 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tilapia filets (approx. 1-1/2 pounds)
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons chipotle chile pepper seasoning
6 large radishes, halved & sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
6 corn tortillas
1 can refried beans, heated
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup shredded cotija cheese
sour cream (optional)

Directions
Preheat Broiler and preheat grill pan over medium to medium high heat.

Cut 1/2 of onion into 1/2 inch wedges and chop the other half. Place onion wedges, quartered tomatoes, chiles and garlic on baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and place under broiler. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are charred.

Meanwhile season both sides of tilapia with 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and chipotle chile seasoning. Place on grill pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, until opaque and cooked through. Once fish is cooked and removed from grill, shred the fish into bite size pieces.

Toss together radishes, chopped onion, cilantro, and shredded tilapia in large bowl (you'll be adding the tomato mixture to this bowl).

Puree tomatoes, onion wedges, chiles, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a blender (remove center piece from lid and cover with paper towel to allow steam to escape), until mixture is smooth. Stir tomato mixture puree into the bowl with tilapia, radishes, chopped onion, and cilantro. 

Heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in in a medium skillet and heat over medium to medium high heat.  Once oil is heated (it will be shimmering), place 1 tortilla at a time in oil and fry for about 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, flipping 2 or 3 times. Use paper towels to drain some of the grease when removing from skillet.

Assemble tostadas by spreading a thick layer of heated refried beans, spoon with tilapia mixutre, sprinkle with a little bit of cotija cheese, and top it off with avocado slices. Add a dolop of sour cream, but it's completely unnecesary as there is plenty of flavor without. Even my husband who would lick sour cream off the spoon admitted he didnt need the sour cream.