Mexican inspired black bean and jalapeno dip is packed with flavour, perfect for parties and pot lucks, and right at home with an ice cold beer.
Christmas in New Zealand. As the song goes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year… Summer is hitting its stride, everyone’s Christmas shopping, having parties and getting ready to take a few weeks off work and head to the beach. All punctuated by Christmas Day in the middle, where most of New Zealand will feast on pretty traditional northern hemisphere (winter) food while sunning ourselves in our jandals. It’s a funny old thing alright.
The before and after is all about casual summer eating. This dip is super simple, incredibly tasty and perfect for relaxed days and nights. It’s also virtually fat free, which is great if you’re trying to get your eating back on track after a big Christmas blow out. That’s me most years! I’m not selling this as health food though. It’s delicious, and just the icing on the cake that it’s also quite good for you.
You don’t need any fancy equipment for this recipe. I mashed the black beans using a potato masher, which is fast, easy and ensures you don’t over process the beans and turn them into soup. It also means you can probably make this while you’re camping at the beach!
Stir through chopped coriander (cilantro), jalapenos, lime juice, garlic, cumin and salt, and you’re done. So easy.
I serve this with toasted tortilla chips (cut a packet of corn or wheat tortillas into eighths, spray with olive oil, season and bake in a hot oven for five minutes or until golden and crisp). I love toasted tortilla chips because they get such a lovely light crispiness to them, almost like pastry, but they’re very low in fat – even with a little spray oil to help them crisp up.
This dip is also a great addition to a Mexican table for dinner – think tacos, chopped salad, rice and your favourite Mexican condiments for an easy weeknight meal.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 can of black beans drained
- 1/2 cup coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
- 2 tbsp jalapeno peppers finely chopped (I used multi-coloured peppers which come bottled in brine)
- 2 tbsp lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1 clove garlic crushed or grated
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Roughly mash black beans using a potato masher.
- Stir through all remaining ingredients.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, and add more lime juice if necessary.
- Serve straight away if you like, or cover and keep in the fridge until you're ready to eat. Best eaten on the day it's made.
- Serve with your choice of corn chips, crackers or toasted tortilla chips.
- Makes approximately 1.5 cups.
Looks really yummy