MEXICAN CHEESE TOSTADAS & ICED LIME CHAMOMILE TEA

When life sends you a box of 10 different Mexican style cheeses, you make tostadas and sip on limey iced tea! There's nothing better than that salty, crunchy with something tart and refreshing on a Summer's afternoon. While shooting for Don Froylan Cheese today, I had a surplus of cheeses left over. We needed lunch and it's not rocket science to know tostada chips and a variety of salty, rich cheeses topped with various odds and ends would fill the bill. The beverage? An iced chamomile with plenty of extra lime slices and crushed ice.

It's an exciting new path we are on here in Santa Barbara, with access to many more Mexican markets with exciting ingredients to incorporate into everyday eating. After a roam around Santa Cruz Market, about 1 mile from our little pad, I came home overloaded (and overjoyed) with many new-to-me flavors and odds and ends. I could spend hours in foreign grocery stores and outdoor markets (the yogurt aisle in Paris is the 8th wonder or the world, I swear it!), so it's a delight to live so close to something special.

This is merely a suggestion, not a recipe, but the following ingredients assembled under the broiler make a killer snack or light lunch.

Tostadas (I prefer these to tortilla chips, they're crunchier)
Don Froylan ricotta, aged cheese, and queso con jalapeno y cilantro
salted pepitas
chile lime dusted peanuts
fresh anaheim chiles
sliced avocado
slices of extra lime
fresh cilantro sprigs

All you do is break up any combo of these ingredients and broil on high for 1 minute - watch the toasties as they can burn quickly!

Wash it all down with chamomile tea (I get mine from the Mexican market), served with plenty of ice and about 2-3 slices of lime per glass.