I made this Dip twice. The first time it was great and the second time was a little bland. I think “Season to taste” is very appropriate here.

From Recipes

Editor’s note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!

[Photograph: Kristen Swensson]

Back in the olden days of yore, when I began eating a bit healthier, hummus became a major part of my meal plans. I spread it on pita. I ate it with vegetables. I sculpted it into the likeness of Alec Baldwin. Tasty and inexpensive, it provided valuable fiber and protein, as well as a substantial stand-in for richer, dairy-filled dips.

However, I’ve been experimenting with other legumes lately. It’s not that hummus has fallen out of favor. It’s just a big, bean-filled world out there, and I aim to actualize its full dip potential.

This Black Bean Dip comes from RecipeZaar, which is a fairly reliable resource, provided you stick to dishes rated at least four-and-a-half stars. While almost entirely fat-free, the dip is rich and hearty, with a nice kick. Fresh scallions and lime juice keep it lively, even though it’s made largely of pantry ingredients.

Admittedly, it’s not the most attractive dip in the world; and for what could be the first time, that has nothing to do with my ability to take a decent food photo. But appearance doesn’t necessarily coincide with flavor, right? I mean, I think we can all agree that baba ghanoush looks like baby puke, and squid ink pasta is essentially a Tim Burton set decoration.

Despite the aesthetics, it remains pretty dang delicious. Serve some before a Mexican feast or as part of your office lunch. You’ll be sated/happy either way, and it might make you forget about hummus. (At least for a little while, anyway.)

Black Bean Dip

Makes about 2 cups dip.

Adapted from RecipeZaar.

Ingredients

2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
4 teaspoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons water
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 scallions, green parts chopped
2 tablespoons canned green chilies, chopped

Procedure

1. Combine beans, tomato paste, water, garlic, lime juice, cumin, salt, and cayenne in a food processor. Puree until it reaches a dip-like consistency. If you find it’s lacking something, add more. (I like a lot of lime juice.) Pour into a bowl.

2. Add scallions and green chilies to dip. Stir thoroughly to combine. Top with extra scallions and a few lime wedges. Serve with pita chips or vegetables.

Healthy & Delicious: Black Bean Dip
Kristen Swensson
Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

I made this meal twice during the week. The cook time is a little longer than I like for a weekday meal but the prep time is pretty minimal. My wife likes the vegetables so I pile up lots of root vegetables underneath. I use a vertical roaster to cook the chicken evenly.

From Recipes

[Photograph: Caroline Russock]

One-Pot Roast Chicken

– serves 4 –

Adapted from In The Green Kitchen by Alice Waters.

Ingredients

1 three-pound chicken
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper
3 potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 celery stalks, thickly sliced
4 large shallots, peeled
Fennel, squash, turnips, parsnips, or other vegetables (optional)
2 bay leaves
2 or 3 thyme sprigs
2 to 3 tablespoons butter

Procedure

1. First prepare the chicken. To remove the wishbone at the top of the breast, use a small knife to scrape along the bone to expose it, then insert the knife and run it along the bone, separating it from the flesh. Use your fingers to loosen it further, grasp the tip of the wishbone, and pull it out. Tuck the wing tips back and under the neck.

2. Tying the chicken plumps the breast up and brings the legs into position for even roasting. Cut a length of cotton string. With the chicken on its back, slip the string under the tail and bring the ends up over the legs to form a figure eight. Loop over the end of each leg and draw the strings tight to bring the legs together. Draw the string back under the legs and wings on either side of the neck. Pull tight, wrap one end around the neck, and tie off the two ends. Salt the chicken evenly all around. Coarse salt has a good texture of large grains that makes it easy to calibrate how much salt you are putting on the chicken; sprinkle it from up high, so that it falls like snow. Season liberally with fresh-ground pepper.

3. Preheat the oven to 375°F, put all the vegetables and herbs together in the bottom of a large, heavy ovenproof pot, and season with salt and pepper. Set the chicken on top, dot with the butter, and roast uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes (or longer), depending on the size of the chicken. It is done when the leg joint is pierced with a knife and the juices run clear, not pink.

4. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before carving, and serve family-style with all of the caramelized vegetables and juices from the pot on a platter and the chicken pieces on top.

Cook the Book: Thomas Keller’s One-Pot Roast Chicken
Caroline Russock
Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:10:00 GMT

I tried the recipe, Marc’s Cashew Chicken, last week and the wife liked it. I think my son will like it, too. It is a nice combination of sweet and spicy. It is also easy enough to prepare for a weekday meal. Go to simply recipes to see the pictures and get the recipe.

Recently my son expressed dismay when I bought a large bottle of Chi-Chi’s Salsa from Sam’s Club. I would have preferred Old El Paso but that has not been available for several months. When we lived in Texas Old El Paso was readily available and we could buy it in institutional size quantities at Sam’s. Within a week an America’s Test Kitchen newsletter reviewed the store bought brands and came to same conclusion. Old El Paso was good and Chi-Chi’s Salsa was not. They also said that fresh made salsa beat both of them. So I brought out my America’s Test Kitchen Best Recipe cookbook and gave it a try.

The recipe is pretty simple. It took me about 15 minutes to prepare and an hour to let the flavors blend together.

• 3 large tomatoes, diced small
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 1 small jalapeno, minced
• 1 small red onion, diced small
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, about 6 limes

It was no surprise that both my wife and son really liked this. The recipe lasted two days. I should of taken a picture of the salsa. My wife and son had cleaned it out before I got home. I think it is the cilantro and lime juice that makes this recipe stand head and shoulders above the store bought brands.

Recently I started using my press pot daily. A couple of years ago a friend gave me a Starbucks press pot for Christmas. It sat unused for at least a year before I realized it was a great way to make a single cup of coffee in the morning.  With a little practice I can make a good cup of coffee in about five minutes. I already had an electric tea kettle to heat the water. Using some inexpensive beans I picked up at Sam’s Warehouse I found that the coffee I made in the morning was much better and cheaper than picking up a coffee on the way to work.

My best tip on the press pot has to do with clean up. Getting the grounds out of the pot after you have poured your cup of coffee can be a problem. I typically have about two ounces of coffee remaining in the bottom of my pot. If you try to pour them out you will leave a lot of grinds in the pot. I found that if I gave the pot a big swirl, I could put almost all of the coffee grinds back into suspension and pour most of them out.

Press Pots: Coffee Worth the Effort – The Atlantic Food Channel

Okay, this was easy and good! I put the ingredients into the Crockpot before I went to work and it was ready to serve when I came home. I used a bag of frozen chicken breasts I had thawed overnight in the refrigerator. My only complaint was that I needed to do a better job of draining out the excess liquid if you are going to try and serve it as a burrito. I think serving the leftover chicken as a soup is a great idea.

Tortillas and toppings.

Serve with soft flour tortillas, a spoonful of the veggies if you used them (lift them with a slotted spoon to drain out excess liquid), and your favorite toppings. Try any combination of lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, and tomatoes.

How to Make Crockpot Chicken Tacos: 6 steps (with pictures) – wikiHow

The Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Summer Vegetable Gratin inspired me. I saw the recipe in the magazine and it looked like it had a cornucopia of flavors at a time when the summer vegetables are looking very appealing. The idea of caramelizing the onions, drying out the vegetables, and adding a savory topping of bread crumbs, shallots, and parmesan looked like it was going to overcome my traditional pet peeves with baked vegetable dishes. Most of the dishes I had tasted were bland, watery messes. This dish promised something else entirely.

Adding the Crash Hot Potatoes was an easy decision, too. This is a twice baked potato that looked easy to fix. The Summer Vegetable Gratin took me about two hours to prepare and will probably restrict this dish to the weekends. The Crash Hot Potato recipe was very simple and could easily be used on the weekdays. I just had to try it.

The final item was a pan seared chicken breast and I had a dinner that overcame even my most reluctant eater, my son.

Refried beans should not be eaten cold.

There, I’ve said it. I don’t usually put my foot down about food preferences, but cold refried beans are about as appealing as a cold hamburger. This is why I make 7-layer dip starting with a layer of hot refried beans. Shredded cheese is added directly to the top of the beans so it melts from the heat of the beans. Then the layers of tomato, avocado, olives, and chilies, onions (mostly room temp) are added. The only cold part of the dip is the topping of sour cream (or crema Mexicana). Served this way and the taste delightfully mimics tostadas or homemade nachos, but in an easy-to-serve dip form.

By the way, depending on what you have on hand, your 7-layer dip may have 8 or 9 layers, or 6. The basics are refried beans, grated cheese, avocados (or guacamole), chilies (or salsa), sour cream, and olives. Improvise with more or fewer toppings to your own taste.

 

• 2 cups of refried beans, either from one 15-ounce can or homemade
• 1 teaspoon (or more) of bacon fat (or 1 strip of bacon, cooked and minced) optional
• 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder, Tabasco chipotle sauce, or adobo sauce, more to taste (or plain chili powder to taste)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green Anaheim chiles (canned) OR a Tbsp of chopped pickled jalapenos (more to taste)
• 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
• 1 hot house tomato, cut in half horizontally, seeds and juice gently squeezed out and discarded, chopped
• 1/3 cup of sour cream, or if you can get it Crema Mexicana (Mexican sour cream)
• 1/2 small can of sliced ripe black olives

1 Heat the refried beans in a medium sauté pan or cast iron skillet. Stir in enough water to get a creamy, easily dip-able consistency, about 1/4 of a cup. The taste of refried beans is greatly enhanced by bacon fat; we’ll add a teaspoon to canned beans or a tablespoon or more to taste if we are making the beans from scratch. If you don’t have bacon fat, you can cook up a strip of bacon, chop it up fine and add that to the beans. If you are trying to avoid pork, note that most canned refried beans are made with added lard, so check the ingredients. You can use olive oil instead, to help the consistency of the beans.

Mix in the chipotle chili powder (or Tabasco, or adobo, or regular chili powder) and cumin to taste. Note that the avocados and the sour cream will cool down the spiciness of the beans considerably, so you can afford to be a bit more spicy than you might think. Stir in salt to taste, depending on how salted your refried beans are to begin with, and depending on how salty the tortilla chips are that you are serving with the dip.

2 Once the beans are hot and bubbly, spread them over the bottom of a serving dish. Immediately add the shredded cheese so that the heat from the beans helps melt the cheese. (The cheese doesn’t need to be completely melted, but even if it is just a little, it will help the dip stay on the chip.)

3 Layer on the chopped green chilies, chopped avocado, chopped tomato. Spoon on the sour cream (or crema Mexicana, crema fresca, or even cream fraiche). Top with sliced green onions and olives.

Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Serves 8.

7 Layer Bean Dip
Elise
Sun, 20 Jan 2008 08:42:59 GMT