Recipe: black bean dip

We needed a large snack over the weekend, and I made this could-have-been-better but very simple bean dip.

1. I medium-small chopped a medium-small onion and sautéed it in a pan with olive oil plus salt, pepper, and dashes of garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and parsley.

2. While the onion softened, I mostly drained a can of organic black beans just using the lid, poured the can in a bowl, and rinsed the can with a couple of tablespoons of water and added that to the bowl. Then I mashed up the beans with the back of a heavy spoon, not worrying about getting all the beans or how well they got mashed up. I started out using a fork, but it wasn’t getting the job done.

3. I added the beans to the pan with onions and continued cooking medium-low until the beans were hot and bubbly, stirring well to incorporate the onions and adjusting the seasonings and adding some ‘Louisiana’ spice blend. At the last minute I stirred in a toss or two of shredded cheddar, which was enough to make it gooier but not enough to make it too cheesy or stringy.

4. Poured it in a bowl, scooped up with organic blue corn chips. The two of us ate the whole thing.

The good: easy, inexpensive, had the ingredients on hand, relatively healthy, hearty.
The bad: underseasoned, needed something.

We didn’t have jalapenos, sour cream (which we NEVER have on hand), or even bell peppers on hand; the dip needed a whang. The beans sucked up all the salt and even the cumin and chili powder even though I re-seasoned a couple of times while heating. Husband was surprised to hear that there was a whole onion in it; they kind of disappeared too even though I tried not to make them too soft. Maybe I could have saved a handful of raw onions to add at the end.

Verdict: Would try again with some adjustments.