Yummy Bean Dip

I'm not very fond of beans, but this time, I had to make them work. It was all we had in the fridge available to eat that Saturday. I always have these really interesting or delicious recipes that I make on Saturday. The reason is, that's grocery shopping day. While mom's gone getting food, it's almost always me at home needing to find something to feed my siblings. "Necessity is the mother of invention." So true.








This time, I made bean dip. What was really interesting about this meal was the chips. All we had was a few small bags barely half full of slightly stale tortilla chips. It was the end of them, so of course there are like nine billion tiny broken ones and only a few whole ones. I quickly chopped some tortillas up and threw them in the oven to crisp up. But meanwhile, something had to be done the leftover chips. I decided to throw them in with the others to crisp up a bit and then flavor them all with my famous Dorito seasoning.

Here's my recipe:

DIY Doritos

Seasoning:
Combine 1/4 cup powdered parmesan cheese, 1/8 teaspoon onion powder, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and yes, 1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Otherwise measured as generous pinch!) in a small bowl. You can also add a little paprika. How much of this you make depends on how seasoned you want your chips. Feel free to alter amounts according to your taste bud's liking.

The Chips:
Cut tortillas into forths or sixths, brush with vegetable oil (or even easier use the aerosol spray grease). Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes or lightly browned and crispy. Throw into a gallon ziploc bag dumps seasoning in. Shake until will coated.

My bean dip was pretty simple. I poured leftover mashed pinto beans into a baking dish that was fit the amount the best. You can also just use refried beans from a can. I've done it before and it's pretty good. Next, I rummaged around in the fridge to find whatever leftovers I could that would taste good with beans. Here are some of my suggestions:

• Garlic. This can be dried, canned, refrigerated, minced, chopped, whole or whatever. It's always a hit in savory dishes.
• Onion. Same as above. Just use it in any form you have on hand. There is a reason why there are so many versions. It pumps the dish up to another level!
• Tomatoes. These really help the beans out by giving the dish a burst of tart juiciness. 
• Peppers. Avoid sweet, go for spicy. Chop them up and throw them in!
• Cheese. You can use quite a variety, but I like to do mozzarella, cheddar, or mexican.
• Cilantro. Fresh is the best but this a leftovers-thrown-together dish so just use whatever you got! I didn't use what we had because it was half falling out of the bag and giving off a strange odor. When I picked it up it was kind of slimy and brownish. That had been in there a little to long! 
• There are plenty of other things you can throw in. When in doubt, imagine eating the dish all baked and done, with whatever ingredient you just added. If it tastes good, go ahead! If not, you know to save that for some other dish

I just layered my dip how I wanted. You might want to stir in some additions with the beans before you add anything else. I would suggest adding the bean first and the cheese last. Enjoy!

Beans, beans, the musical fruit

The more you eat, the more you toot

The more you toot, the better you feel

So let's eat beans at every meal!

Beans, beans they're good for your heart

The more you eat, the more you fart

The more you far, the better you feel

So let's eat beans at every meal!