Breakfast tostadas with lazyyy beans

an exclusive recipe excerpt from the fabulous new book MY (HALF) LATINX KITCHEN

Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. ‘ Find archived recipes on my recipe index.

My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.

This week’s recipe is free for all.

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The first time I met Kiera, we cooked together over FaceTime.

Kiera and I were due to meet in person a year earlier. We had a lunch date planned for March 19, 2020 at Thai Diner in New York City. But a week or so prior, the city closed down. Lunch plans shelved. We didn’t realize it at the time, but it would be a long while before we would have the opportunity to share a meal.

I’m not sure how our FaceTime cooking session came to be. But since cooking with others through a screen was the closest thing to sharing a meal during lockdown, it did not feel odd that we would meet in this way. Kiera showed me how to make tamagoyaki, the Japanese rolled omelette. I didn’t have the right pan, so I had to rely on my trusted Staub cast iron skillet, not ideal but I made it work. My first attempt was not the best, I had not learnt to control the heat and it turned out overcooked and too golden, but Kiera was an excellent and patient teacher. Today, I still reap the rewards of that FaceTime session. I am now a competent tamagoyaki maker. I even own a dedicated pan to make it in.

Kiera and I did meet in real life a year later. By then, we were living in the same neighborhood and we met for an outdoor coffee at a local bakery. We talked like old friends. Soon after, she moved to Hawaii, and then Japan.

I have lucky to witness Kiera’s love of cooking and storytelling disseminate into the world. First via her charming children’s picture book I Want To Be Spaghetti where ramen finds self-love and belonging in a spaghetti obsessed world, and now in her debut cookbook, My (Half) Latinx Kitchen, a moving exploration of her Latinx roots, told through gorgeous recipes and poignant essays. You’ll come for the recipes, but stay for the stories.

This week, I am so pleased to share a recipe from Kiera’s book. This dish feels a little bit like a throwback for me. It is similar to the Tostadas de Frijoles con Huevos (Bean Tostadas with Eggs) that Kiera shared in the Issue 7 of my currently-in-hiatus multicultural food journal PEDDLER. Last week, Kiera popped over to my place and we cooked the dish together. Check out the video here:

kierawrr

A post shared by @kierawrr

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Weeknight wonders for this week, all NYT Cooking recipes have gift links:

Monday: I have previously shared a similar lo han jai (buddha’s feast) on this newsletter before. Now there’s a version on NYT Cooking. It's usually made for Lunar New Year or celebrations but could be a great batch cooking dish. Make it on Monday, eat it with rice during the week. It’s a very traditional dish to my family and pleased to share it to a larger audience.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Brett Regot.

Tuesday: Beans on Tuesday feels right - try this Charred Bok Choy and Cannellini Bean Salad

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.

Wednesday: I’m advocating hard for this quick beetroot and goat's cheese pasta salad with balsamic vinaigrette. It’s pretty, and pink.

Thursday: Dan dan noodles, add eggplant.

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Friday: this is one of the my favourite pumpkin soups of all. It has ginger, red curry paste, curry cashews!

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🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.

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Breakfast tostadas with lazyyy beans

© Excerpted from the book MY (HALF) LATINX KITCHEN: Half Recipes, Half Stories, All Latin American by Kiera Wright-Ruiz. Copyright © 2025 by Kiera Wright-Ruiz. Photography © 2025 by Lauren Vied Allen. From Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission by Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love.

In Kiera’s words: When I enter a truly lazyyy (not lazy, but lazyyy) state, it means one or all of the following things: (1) For whatever reason, I have not been feeling good for days/weeks/months. (2) I have not been nourishing my body well and probably desperately need to make a change. (3) I’m just tired and don’t want to cook anything. If I feel lazyyy, this is what I make. Although these breakfast tostadas take a bit more work than pouring a bowl of cereal, cooking them jolts me back to feeling like my normal self, even just for a moment. To start, I add a bunch of aromatics to the canned beans to, well, make them not taste like canned beans. But the act of sautéing onions, garlic, and spices together grounds me in the present, and the smells take me back home. The crisp, lacy egg and extra splashes of hot sauce remind me that I won’t feel lazyyy forever.

Hetty’s notes: Though these are named ‘breakfast tostadas’, these are also perfect for a hearty lunch or light dinner. I recommend doubling the quantities and serving with a side of rice for a heartier meal.

Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 (one tostada per person)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 x 6-inch corn tortillas
4 large eggs
1 cup crumbled queso fresco
2 ripe avocados, thinly sliced
flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, for serving
hot sauce (preferably Cholula or Valentina), for serving

Heat the olive oil in a small pot over medium-low heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently to avoid browning, until just softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, salt, and MSG (if using) and stir until combined with a wooden spoon.

Using the back of the spoon, press the beans against the side of the pot to gently crush about half of them. Then add 1 cup water. Increase the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring frequently to keep any bits from burning on the bottom of the pot, until the beans thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the tortillas one at a time and cook until crispy and golden brown, about 30 seconds on each side. Remove and let cool on a paper towel–lined plate to drain.

In the same skillet, reheat the oil over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, cook the eggs sunny-side up until the edges bubble up and become golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. You can cook them all at once and separate them with the tip of your spatula, or make them two at a time for a cleaner look.

To assemble, place a crisp tortilla on a serving plate. Spoon about one-quarter of the beans directly on top. Sprinkle with one-quarter of the queso fresco. Spread one-quarter of the avocado slices over the cheese. Top with 1 egg, flaky salt, and fresh cracked pepper. Repeat for the remaining tostadas. Serve immediately with lots of hot sauce.

Breakfast Tostadas By Kiera Wright Ruiz

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Io Vegetables, With Love is dedicated to vegetables and it is a joy to bring you a new recipe every week. Thank you to everyone who subscribes, especially to paid subscribers who make this work possible.