Spicy Black Bean Salsa – Gluten Free

Happy Belated Memorial Day! Its been a busy few days. First, and most important, I finally received my exam permit for my licensing exam! This means that while I am still cooking, I may not be posting as much because I will be studying. I also started my new job. I must say, after being in school for such a long time and being graded for all my actions, it is very refreshing to have this particular job. Even though I enjoy what I normally do, it is nice to not have anything hanging over your head, while you do it. My visits with the allergist are over! After 3 visits to the allergist, my allergy list is now: Dust mites, tree pollen, cats, dogs and fresh strawberries. (whew!). The tree pollen, is what has been getting to me the most, this summer. He gave me some relief, via medications and some ways to allergen-proof my home. Good start and now I am armed with knowledge! In other news, I have been running around like crazy 🙂 Finally, we purchased new curtains for the house. It is a welcome respite from the heat! I always wanted to shop for curtains and I can’t wait until they are all up.

For Memorial Day, my husband and I decided to go upstate to my parent’s home. My sister, her boyfriend and my cousin, also drove up. In total, we had 8 members of our family, all around the dinner table. What FUN!! We had a huge BBQ! Mom and my grandmother made delicious chicken wings, thighs and legs, filet mignon, hamburgers and hot dogs. My cousin brought over an enormous potato salad (YUM!!). I made my Caramalized Onion Hamburger Buns, coldslaw (recipe soon), Dark Chocolate Flourless Cake with Ganache and Spicy Black Bean Salsa.

I love memories and even this salsa, has a specific memory. As I mentioned in a previous post, my sister used to be a highly selective eater, when she was little. She hated tomatoes and onions 🙂 but loved pizza and salsa. Go figure 🙂 As we were growing up, we used to have little “girls nights” where we would have a late night snack and watch movies. We still do that (when we aren’t exhausted) on our last nights, visiting our parent’s home. Our standards was chocolate chip cookies and milk but sometimes we had chips and salsa. Even if we purchased the hottest salsa, my sister would STILL complain that it wasn’t hot enough. So, she started “doctoring” the salsa with red pepper. I decided that I would make a salsa, she would enjoy 🙂  Don’t worry, you don’t have to make this salsa as spicy. Just use a mild salsa and don’t add the seeds and rinds from the jalapeno, to make this a very mild dip. To spicy it up, use hot salsa and a whole jalapeno (or two). This recipe makes 1 pint of salsa. I thought that I had enough…next time, I know to make more 🙂 I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Spicy Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 small can of fiesta canned corn (or just plain sweet kernel corn)

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, plus some for decorating

1/2 a red onion

3/4 cup of your favorite chunky salsa or fresh pico de gallo (I used a medium spice)

Juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno

(I cut it in half and only used half the seeds and rind)

1/2 cup of plain non-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. Add salsa, onion and jalapeno to blender and chop.
2. Add remaining ingredients (except corn) to blend and blend until it is the consistency you want. I left mine with very small chunks.
3. Add corn and chop it just a little bit. I wanted the chunks of corn to be seen and not blended too much.
4. Place  in a serving bowl and garnish with cilantro

This salsa was a huge hit! I am definitely going to make this again. Next time, I plan to make a variation with some Mexican Blend cheeses. On its own, it is a low-fat and healthy dip. Enjoy!!!