Homemade Bean Dip!

This is my mom's speciality-- bean dip made from dried pinto beans. She cooks them in a pressure cooker, then simmers with tomato sauce, garlic, and salt until cooked through (mashing the beans if necessary after the pressure cooker step).

This week, I am participating in Kim O'Donnel's eating down the fridge challenge (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2009/03/eating_down_the_fridge_let_the.html) so no grocery shopping for the week.. and I didn't have tomato sauce! What to do?! I had already cooked the pinto beans in the morning (because I am addicted to puttu, which requires a pressure cooker... I'll post about puttu soon), planning to use them for dinner.

Oh well-- the Eating Down the Fridge challenge is all about being creative-- right? Right! I used 3 Tbsp of bottled spaghetti sauce for my 1.5 Cups of cooked pinto beans... add a little garlic powder, chili powder, and a dash of cumin (I wanted to make sure the spaghetti sauce taste was gone) and it was delicious! Couldnt even tell the difference!

I topped the bean dip with cheddar chunks, sliced green onion, tomato, and bell pepper, and some finely diced celery. MmmMMmMMM! I ate it rolled in a corn tortilla that I microwaved for about 15 seconds.. along with some sour cream. Delicious!

The taste is so much better than refried beans from a can-- the fresh cooked pinto bean has a very distinct and wonderful flavor! try it out, and let me know what you think.