Black Bean Dip

I love dips! They are great for get togethers with friends, bridal/baby showers, parties, holidays, or just plain old lazy weekends! I really can't tell you enough how much I love dips! I am always trying out new recipes and can't seem to keep up with all the ones I have bookmarked to make! I actually made this dip several months ago, just never got around to blogging about it. This dip was fantastic! A huge hit for everyone who tried it. It had a hummus texture, but a completely different taste. I loved the kick the jalapenos and cilantro added. I served mine with Fritos, which I think is the best way to enjoy this dip, but you could serve it with your favorite type of cracker as well. Oh and just to warn you, you may want to plan on doubling this recipe, because YES it IS THAT GOOD!!!

Black Bean Dip

(from Scraping the Skillet)

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
3 pickled jalapeños (about 3 T diced)
2 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1/4 c stock (chicken or veggie)
1 small red onion, diced
1 T chopped cilantro

Combine the beans, jalapeños, salt and lemon juice in the food processor. Add the stock and pulse until incorporated. Stir in diced onions and cilantro. Serve with Fritos.

Mexican Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

My husband and I are really trying to drop a few pounds. We kinda went off our healthy eating/working out routine without meaning too. So we just wanted to do something to jump kick our butts back into gear! Awhile back I tried the detox from The Fat Smash Diet with a friend of mine. The detox is the first phase of the diet and it lasts for 9 days. You can't really eat much outside of beans and brown rice (which forces you to become creative!), but my favorite part of this detox is that you can eat all the fruits and veggies you want! Anyhow, I felt so good the last time I did it and I dropped a good amount of weight too! So here I am trying it again!

I needed something last week to boost my energy level back up. We had been working out so hard and I think my body was craving some hard core protein. So I decided to try out something new. It is hard to come up with new ideas to use beans...but this one turned out pretty good! The flavor was great...something I would actually eat when I wasn't dieting! I actually think that if you didn't want to use mustard that you could try even using white wine vinegar for flavor too! Maybe I will try that next time!

Mexican Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

(recipe from the kitchen of Liesl)

For sauce:

juice of one lime

juice of one lemon

splash of spicy mustard

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

dash of pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

For salad:

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of corn (no salt added), drained and rinsed

2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced

fresh cilantro, chopped finely

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

Romaine leaves, washed and cut from stem

In a small container that has a lid, combine all ingredients for your sauce. Put lid on container and shake to combine all ingredients. In another bowl combine all ingredients for the salad. Stir together. Pour sauce over salad mixture and stir to combine with salad. Refrigerate for 1 hour for flavors to combine.

To assemble:

Take a Romaine leaf and carefully place a generous amount of the salad in the middle. Roll the sides of the lettuce leaf up over the middle.

ENJOY!