Hot Black Bean Dip
Hearty and spicy, this bean dip will win raves at parties or from friends over to watch The Big Game. It travels well, too: just make it in a slow cooker and take the hot cooker with you. Easy to make two versions: one low-fat and vegan and the other extra tasty with sharp cheddar cheese.
Active time: 35 minutes. Total time: about 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, depending on how you cook the beans (see Basic Beans recipe). Makes 30 servings, 1/4 cup each.
Ingredients
1 pound dry black beans
6 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons corn or canola oil
2 medium onions (1 pound), chopped
3 jalapeño peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chipotle or cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons lime juice (juice from one lime)
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
corn chips, Garlic Flatbread, or celery and carrot sticks for dipping
Method
- Cook beans according to Basic Beans recipe.
- In a large pot, warm oil over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, chop onion. Add to pot and cook until soft, about five minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.
- While onions cooks, drain beans, saving bean broth to use in this recipe or in others. Dice peppers and add to onion mixture, including seeds and white membrane from inside peppers if you like hot food. (See notes for more on peppers.) Mince garlic and measure cumin and pepper. Add to onion mixture and stir constantly, cooking for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add about 1/3 of drained beans at a time to onion mixture. Mash with potato masher or large fork or spoon until beans are mostly smooth. Add more beans and repeat until all beans are in pot.
- If serving in a crockpot, return beans to crockpot with heat set to low.
- Continue stirring and mashing for about 15 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice and stir to blend. Thin with bean broth if desired.
- Meanwhile, cut cheese into small cubes, about 1/4 inch across. Save a few cheese cubes to sprinkle on top if you'd like. Stir cheese into beans about 3 minutes before serving, top with extra cubes.
- Serve hot directly from the slow cooker. Freezes well.
Tips and notes
- Chips?!? Yes, chips are not part of the usual Cook for Good ingredients list. But special occasions, like the Super Bowl, the Final Four, or even the ice-dancing finals may call for a special treat. Look for chips without transfats and get organic ones if possible.
- Hot peppers add texture and chemical heat to this dip. The seeds and white membrane are the hottest parts. Some peppers are hotter than others, depending on how they were grown. Try adding just the green parts, tasting the mixture, and then stirring in the seeds and membranes if you want more fire. I hold peppers with a plastic sandwich bag while cutting to avoid getting pepper juice on my hands and from there into my eyes.
