Black Bean Dip

Hello, everyone! WOOF, it's been a while! Please forgive me for the lengthy hiatus. I've been enjoying my free time since graduation last spring, and while I've been cooking up a STORM, I haven't gotten around to blogging until now!

I recently returned from my best friend's wedding in Costa Rica, which was absolute paradise! I surfed, danced, ate delicious Costa Rican food, and best of all, spent time with some of my best friends and celebrated the happy couple.

Check out #SJKTravels on social media for more pictures of my trip!

The thing about Costa Rican food that stuck out the most to me was the freshness. Fresh ingredients were combined together in simple ways and the true flavors of the ingredients shined. We ate lots of fish, chicken, rice and beans, veggies, and fruit, which might sound kind of boring, but when those foods are of high quality, the dishes are very satisfying and light! I can't help but notice how the Costa Rican cuisine echoes the national saying, "Pura vida," which simply translates to "pure life" but takes on many joyful and thankful meanings!

One dish I had that I'd never tasted before was a pureed black bean dip at Green Papaya Taco Bar in Tamarindo. It was served alongside guacamole, a spicy pepper dip, and tortilla chips, and I could have made a whole meal out of that appetizer! It was smooth, savory, light, and PURPLE!

What follows is my attempt at recreating this black bean dip! I kept the ingredients simple (as seemed to be the trend in Costa Rica). While I think I nailed the texture and flavor, my version is not nearly as beautiful as the original :( The red onion and bell pepper weren't enough to enhance the purple tone of the black beans, but damn if it isn't delicious!

The original was free of garnishes, but I love swirling a dollop of sour cream in the mix. If you're a cilantro fan, that's excellent on top as well. My lunch today consisted of avocado toast with sliced tomato and a side of chips and this black bean dip, a meal I highly recommend!

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Black Bean Dip

by Saucy Jocey's Kitchen March-13-2016

Costa Rican-inspired Black Bean Dip is smooth, savory, and light!

Ingredients

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 30 oz canned black beans
• 1 clove fresh garlic
• Juice of a lime
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Optional: sour cream and cilantro

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.2. Chop 1/2 onion and the bell pepper in 1 - 2 inch chunks. Toss with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper on a baking sheet.3. Roast onions and bell pepper at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes.4. While the onions and peppers are roasting, drain and rinse the canned black beans. Peel the garlic clove and juice the lime.5. When the roasting is complete, blend all (non-optional) ingredients in a food processor until smooth. You may have to scrape down the sides and re-blend a few times.6. Serve with tortilla chips. Swirl a dollop of sour cream on top and sprinkle with cilantro if desired. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: Cook time: Total time: 15 mins Yield: 2.5 cups

1. - 2. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Chop the 1/2 onion and red bell pepper in large chunks and toss with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.

3. Roast at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Prepare for your house to smell savory and heavenly.

4. While the veggies roast, drain and rinse the black beans, peel the clove of garlic, and juice the lime.

5. a. When roasting is complete, add everything (except the sour cream and cilantro) to the food processor and blend!

5. b. You may have to scrape down the sides and re-blend a few times in order to get the dip completely smooth.

5. c. The final result should be smooth with very few chunks left in it!

7. Serve with tortilla chips! Swirl in some sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro if you'd like. The final result has a fresh, savory taste to it with a little hint of sweetness from the roasted onion and bell pepper. It's both filling and light at the same time! I have a sneaking suspicion that this dip smeared on a tortilla would make any taco better. Challenge accepted!

P.S. Isn't this little turtle cute?! It's a whistle and the favor from the wedding, which I think I will make into an ornament.

Watermelon Margaritas

It's Saucy Jocey's Kitchen's 1st birthday! I can't believe it! This experience has been an absolute BLAST and I can't wait to continue experimenting with food, dirtying-up my kitchen (my fiance and I have a clutch deal going - whoever cooks doesn't clean), and showing you all what I come up with :) Although the school year leaves me pretty swamped, it's summer again, which means more free time and more blogging! I can't wait. As for the coming year, a few of my goals for my blog are:

1. Improve my food photography. Get a new camera too?

2. Post at least once a week on average. Note - that's about what I averaged this past year, but next year I will be even MORE swamped than I already am, with more school, work, and planning a wedding :) I'm DEFINITELY not complaining - I'm a lucky girl! I'm also a busy girl though, so once a week blogging is a reasonable goal I think!

3. Redesign my blog. I've dabbled a little in html (surprisingly little considering my major - computer science), so I can figure my way around some website designing I think! 

4. Cook healthier. Don't get me wrong, I love the occasional fried chicken and sugary baked good, but for every day, my goal is to eat healthier than I do now. I would like to make a not-putting-as-much-garbage-into-my-body lifestyle change. Paul and I joined an organic produce buying club recently, which keeps fresh organic produce in the house at all times, which I LOVE. 

To anyone stopping by to read my blog, thank you :) sharing recipes and stories with you all this past year has been a joy, and I look forward to many more!

To celebrate year one - a fruity summer cocktail of course! Margaritas scream summertime to me, as do watermelons. This marg is definitely a lighter cocktail as far as alcohol content goes, as opposed to Beergaritas which are more on the potent side. Feel free to add more tequila to your liking! A bit slushy and not overly sweet, this is the perfect poolside cocktail! 

Watermelon Margaritas

Makes 5 (1 cup) servings

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups chopped watermelon

1 1/2 cups limeade (simply limeade ideally)

1/2 cup tequila

salt for the rim of the glass

Puree 3 cups of chopped fresh watermelon. Mix watermelon puree, limeade, and tequila. Serve over ice with a salted rim!

It's a little baby watermelon! We got this mini guy in our organic produce share from Annie's Organic Buying Club. It's been such a nice change to have organic fresh produce always around to snack on and cook with! Paul and I get the 3/4 share, which two people can finish in a week if they put their minds to it, but it's a tiny but of a challenge. But that's good, because it forces us to eat more fruits and veggies than we used to :)

Give the watermelon a rough chop so you can measure out 3 cups, and puree in the food processor!

Mix the pureed watermelon with limeade...

... and tequila! These margs are definitely on the easy-drinking side of the cocktail spectrum. Feel free to add more tequila if you want!

Serve over ice with a salted rim, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Do roasted garlic scented candles exist? They should. My house smelled absolutely DIVINE when I was roasting the garlic for the recipe. It uses a whole head of garlic! Mmmm :) Yup, garlic makes me smile. OK, enough gushing. I've made a lot of hummus lately! It's incredibly easy - the hardest part of this recipe is cutting the head of garlic in half. I had no trouble finding tahini (a sesame seed paste) in my grocery store. Once you have a container of tahini in your fridge, just buy canned chick peas whenever you want hummus! Of course hummus as a dip is a delicious snack, but I also like spreading it on sandwiches or Pita Melts instead of other condiments! This dish has such a rich flavor from the roasted garlic, and it's healthy! Yum.

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Inactive time: 45 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas (15 oz)

1 head of garlic

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (+ more for drizzling)

1 Tbsp tahini

1/2 cup water

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1. Peel off the first few layers of skin and cut the top half off of the head of garlic. Drizzle exposed cloves with 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes at 400 degrees F.

2. Let the head of garlic cool for 5 minutes. Squeeze the cloves out of the skin and into the food processor. Drain the liquid from the can of chickpeas and add all ingredients to the food processor. 

3. Blend until smooth (this might require scraping down the sides and blending a few times). Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve with pitas or crackers or spread on a sandwich or pita melt. Enjoy!

Yes that's right, a WHOLE head of garlic goes into this hummus. Don't be scared though! The roasting mellows out the strong raw garlic flavor. Roasted garlic is much more mild and rich. Mmmmm

Drizzle the cloves with a Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees F. One of my favorite cooking fragrances that fills the house, right up there with chocolate chip cookies, is roasted garlic. Mmm garlic <3

 The cloves will get sweeter and soft and mild. That's why the whole head of garlic isn't overwhelming in this recipe - the roasting. The difference in flavor before and after is amazing. I love some raw garlic in my life too, but for this recipe, roasting is the way to go.

Drain the chick peas and throw everything in the food processor! The garlic cloves can be squeezed right out of the skin. You might need to scrape the sides of the food processor down and blend a few times to get it smooth. 

I'm sure I've gushed about how much I love garlic enough, but I can't help it. It's the Greek side of me. But trust me when I say this hummus is amazing. Serve with pitas or crackers or spread it on your favorite sandwich, wrap, or melt. So healthy and so tasty!

Salsa

Lucky me - someone gave me a bunch of organic produce this week! I saw all of the beautiful red roma tomatoes and said to myself salsa is happening. Ever since I wrestled my parents' food processor away from them (not really, it was a wedding present they never used) I've been loving trying out different kinds of fresh salsa. I made a Sweet Pepper version that was quite tasty. This recipe below is your classic tomato and jalapeño salsa, and it's delicious. I kept the seeds in the jalapeño so it's got a decent kick to it. I would say it's on the hot side of medium. Make this fresh salsa instead of eating the jarred stuff!

Salsa

Makes 2 cups of medium salsa

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 roma tomatoes

1 jalapeño (2 for hot salsa)

1 clove garlic

1/4 red onion

1 Tbsp cilantro

2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

Salt to taste

Cut stems off tomatoes and jalapeño and cut into large pieces. Blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Enjoy!

Beautiful vegetables. Definitely one of the big advantages of making your own salsa - you know what's in it! And this is pretty much it, just bright fresh produce (aside from seasonings). *I didn't end up using all of these romas. 

Cut the stems off the tomatoes and jalapeño, give them a rough chop, peel the garlic, and add everything to the food processor. Blend until smooth! I like my salsa smooth. Feel free to just pulse it if you like it chunky (I would recommend cutting the ingredients into smaller piece before you pulse in this case).

So simple and so fresh. You really get the flavors of each ingredient! It blows the jarred salsa out of the water and I know what's in it. And you can taste test as you go and tweak the seasonings until it tastes perfect to you. I'm in love. I think salsa will be only homemade in Saucy Jocey's kitchen from now on!

Fiesta Chicken

Who doesn't love simple, quick, cheesy, crunchy, warm comfort food? It's pictured inside tortillas for quesadillas here, but the possibilities for this Fiesta Chicken mixture are endless. I ate my leftover servings melted on top of tortilla chips for loaded nachos. Serve it cold on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes for a zesty salad. Add more beans and cilantro lime rice to the mixture and roll up in a large tortilla for a burrito. Switch up taco night... I could go on for days. I'll admit that I even ate a spoonful or two out of the fridge cold. Make this fiesta chicken and I promise - you will love it!

Fiesta Chicken Quesadillas, Nachos, Salad, etc.

Makes 4 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (( Healthier Ingredient Substitutions ))

1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped

1 bell pepper

1 clove garlic

1/2 avocado

1/2 onion

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (( 1 cup shredded low fat pepper jack cheese ))

3/4 cup cilantro

2/3 cup black beans

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Salt to taste

Tortillas for quesadillas, tortilla chips for nachos, lettuce for salad, etc.

1. Pulse cilantro, avocado, garlic clove, lime juice, and 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in the food processor until smooth. 

2. Chop bell pepper and onion. Saute bell pepper and onion in olive oil until onions become translucent, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix all ingredients together. Use as a filling for quesadillas, on top of tortilla chips as nachos, over some lettuce and tomatoes for a salad (( healthier option )), with more beans and rice for burritos, etc. Enjoy!

Blend cilantro, avocado, garlic, lime juice, and extra virgin olive oil in the food processor. I want to experiment with a sort of cilantro pesto some other time. Hmmm.... 

Zesty Goodness!

Dice the bell pepper and half onion. I'm a big texture person so these crunchy veggies are a must!

Saute the pepper and onion until the onions just become translucent.

Mix all of the ingredients together! I'm telling you - this is a hit.

As you can see above, I got a little hungry while taking these pictures. There's crunch from the vegetables, creaminess from the cheese and avocado mixture, a little kick from the pepper jack, and of course flavorful chicken and spices. It's aaaaall there. Use this as a base for your favorite Mexican dish and you will have a tasty meal on your plate in no time!  

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

I've been DREAMING about enchiladas lately. I think I was going through Mexican food withdrawals because I haven't been to my favorite restaurant lately. But rather than going out to eat I decided to make an attempt at chicken enchiladas! I've never made them before but I looked at a million recipes online and put together my own little concoction. I personally prefer the green tomatillo sauce to the red sauce so I cleaned out my grocery store of tomatillos and made that from scratch too! I am not claiming that this recipe is authentic Mexican or anything, but I at least made everything from scratch and damn it, it tastes good!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Makes 10-12 Enchiladas, 5-6 Servings

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

10-12 corn tortillas

8 tomatillos

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapeños

1 white onion

1 lime

2 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Husk, rinse, and cut stem end off tomatillos. In a large saucepan bring water, tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion to a boil. Covered and boil over medium high heat for 10 minutes. The tomatillos will turn a more olive green color, as opposed to lime green.

2. Place cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, garlic cloves, the cooked tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Dice and sauté the other half of the onion until it becomes translucent. Mix sautéed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, and 1/4 cup sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 4. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Using tongs fry the corn tortillas one at a time in the hot oil for 10 seconds on each side. Place fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

5. Spread a few spoonfuls of tomatillo sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and roll up. Place rolled tortilla seam side down in the baking dish and repeat until chicken mixture is gone.

6. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce on top of rolled tortillas in baking dish. Spoon remaining sour cream on top of tomatillo sauce. Sprinkle remaining Monterey jack cheese on top.

7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese (watch carefully!). Enjoy!

Husk, rinse, and cut the stem ends off the tomatillos. I cleaned my grocery store out of them! Boil 1 cup water with tomatillos, jalapeños, and 1/2 the onion covered for 10 minutes (ignore the poblano pepper - I didn't end up using it).

 The tomatillos will turn a kind of olive green when they're done!

Place tomatillos, jalapeños, half the onion, cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, and garlic cloves in the food processor. Blend until it is very smooth!

The sauce should not be chunky. Add salt and pepper to your liking. This would be great as a green salsa on its own!

Dice and saute the other half of the onion until the pieces are translucent.

Mix sauteed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Using a rotisserie chicken for this recipe would be perfect! Just make sure you get a plain rotisserie chicken, not bbq or lemon pepper or whatever.

Fry the tortillas in vegetable oil over medium high heat for 10 seconds on each side. Make sure the oil it HOT or else the tortillas will just get soggy. And ONLY 10 seconds on each side! Place the fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

Spread a few spoonfuls of the tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan.

Fill each tortilla with a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture.

 Roll each tortilla and place them seam side down in the baking dish.

Here's where it gets fun... Top with the remaining tomatillo sauce!

Spoon the remaining sour cream on top of the tomatillo sauce. The sour cream and cheese balance out the spiciness of the tomatillo sauce well. I wanted to use Mexican crema but my grocery store didn't have any :(

Top with the remaining Monterey jack cheese!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and broil for another 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese. Look at all the cheesy goodness!

Each serving should get two enchiladas (the corn tortillas are small) and I served it with black beans and rice. This DEFINITELY fulfilled my Mexican food cravings!