By Emily McLaughlin

Happy holidays, everyone! I have quite a bit to blog after this little holiday hiatus, but I’m going to start with a recipe before I tell you about my trip to New York, my Christmas and everything else.

I’ve got some time on my hands this week because work has, so generously, given me some days off until New Years. I used some of that time today to hit the gym, Trader Joe’s and Russo’s. My first culinary task was a healthy black bean dip. I wanted to try to make my own since I have gone through TJ’s spicy black bean dip like it’s going out of style. Also, I’ve been craving some sweet potatoes, so I picked up some sweet potato chips from TJ’s to go with my masterpiece.

Ingredients

1/2 can black beans, rinsed

1 garlic clove, chopped

1+ tsp of fresh cilantro, chopped (I pulled the leaves off 3 stems of fresh cilantro)

1 tsp green onion, chopped

1 tsp yellow onion, chopped

1/4 of a roasted red pepper

1+ tsp olive oil

Directions

1. Prepare all of your ingredients. Don’t worry about chopping things too small since you are throwing them in a food processor or blender.

2. Put all ingredient in food processor/blender and mix until smooth. To change the consistency and make the dip smoother, add a small about of olive oil at a time until it reaches your likeness. Taste the dip as you go along to see if you need any seasonings (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin — any would be a good addition).

That’s it. Two steps. Serve your healthy black bean dip right away with chips of your choice and store in the refrigerator for later use. I didn’t add any extra seasoning to my dip this time around, but next time I might add some pepper and the smallest pinch of cumin and red pepper flakes.