Sunday, April 3, 2016

Healthy Five Layer Mexican Dip and My Top Five Ellie Krieger Favorites!

THIS DIP IS EVERYTHING! I'm serious. It's soooooooooo good that my mom and I ate half. We simply could not stop. If you crave Mexican like we do, but are looking for healthier options then this is YOUR recipe.

Creamy black beans, with just the right amount of heat from a chipotle pepper, are the base for this dip. The next layer is corn mixed with a little onion, garlic, and cilantro. On top of the corn is mashed avocado with lime juice, followed by a fresh salsa made from tomatoes, jalapeno, and scallions. The fifth layer is all about some cheese. I like to use an extra sharp white cheddar because it delivers big in the flavor department and you only have to use a little.

That's it! Grab a chip (or a bowl full) and I guarantee you will be tempted to eat way more than your fair share of this dip. Gather a little bit of each layer on your chip and you will have the perfect bite!


Five Layer Mexican Dip
Recipe found on Food Network
by Ellie Krieger
Makes 12 -1/2 cup servings

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups corn kernels (10-ounce box frozen corn)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
2 ripe avocados
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
1 tablespoon finely diced jalapeno pepper, optional
3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar
Tortilla chips, for serving

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.

Put half of the onion mixture into a food processor with the black beans, chipotle pepper, 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, cumin, water and salt. Puree until smooth. Set aside.

Add the corn to the skillet with the remaining onion mixture and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro leaves.

In a small bowl mash the avocado with the remaining lime juice. In a medium bowl toss together the tomatoes, scallion and jalapeno, if using. Season tomato mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.

Spread the black bean dip into the bottom of an 8 by 8 glass baking or serving dish. Top with the corn mixture, spreading it out to form a single layer over the beans, repeat with the avocado, then the tomatoes. Top with cheese. Serve with baked chips.


Per 1/2 cup serving (not including chips): Calories 140; Total Fat 8 g; (Sat Fat 2 g, Mono Fat 3 g, Poly Fat 0.7 g) ; Protein 5g; Carb 16 g; Fiber 5g; Cholesterol 6mg; Sodium 245 mg


My Top Five Ellie Krieger Dishes


It has been a wonderful six months cooking the recipes of Ellie Krieger. The recipes below were my favorites, as well as one honorable mention! Goodbye for now Ellie!
 
(click on the recipe title to be directed to the original post)

 Number One
 Ellie's version of White Chili is fabulous and comes in at the very top of my list! Maybe it's the hominy, which I discovered and fell in love with, but this is my favorite chili recipe!
 

Number Two

I am constantly craving Mexican food and this Five Layer Mexican Dip has it all and still manages to be healthy! This is going to be my new go to dip for all parties and potlucks. Love it!



Number Three

Ellie's Honey-Roasted Sweet Potatoes made the top five because I ate them straight off the sheet pan, but they were even better playing the starring role in my Roasted Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad with Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette. This was easily my favorite salad of the year!


Number Four 

If you're looking for a succulent little appetizer that can be made the day before, is pretty, and somewhat healthy, then look no further! These little Italian Sausage Skewers are just the recipe. I'd like to pop one in my mouth right now.


Number Five 

My fifth favorite Ellie recipe was this tasty and hearty Tuscan Lentil and Macaroni Salad. I made this salad on Sunday, packed it into mason jars for my lunch, and made everyone in the teacher's lounge jealous at lunchtime. I never got tired of eating it and just a little bit was more than enough to satisfy.



Ellie's Broiled Chicken Wings deserve an honorable mention. If you're craving chicken wings and trying to be healthy, this is a great option. They are every bit as good as a fried wing.
Theme: Goodbye Ellie!

11 comments:

  1. It does look like a delicious dip--I love all of the colors and textures and I haven't had Mexican layer dip in forever. ;-) You made some delicious-looking Ellie recipes and I am glad you found some new favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This dip has me wanting to go rushing to the kitchen and make a big bowl of it right now. I could seriously actually make a meal of this, and in all honestly if I paired this up with some vegetable crisps I wouldn't feel too guilty - unless of course I actually ate the whole bowl in one sitting! On my own! That might be bad. But if I stretched it out over a couple of days - no guilt whatsoever I'm thinking :-)

    Love all your Ellie favourites too, Kim - some great picks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kim, I love the list of all Ellie's recipes that you have cooked. They look fabulous! And your five layer dip looks absolutely awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  4. All these dishes look so delicious from the look of them. Hard to decide on the winner! I trust your taste test on each and your verdict on them. What is not in doubt is the five layer dip. Every layer is just as appealing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have me sold on the dip but my weakness is the chips. I love the sound of the dip but I always eat too many chips! Lots of good recipes here, Kim. Those wings also have my attention.
    Hope you are doing well. We have had some flooding but things are better now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That dip looks so vibrant and refreshing! Love all the ingredients! No wonder both you and your mom ate half of it!
    Your favourite Ellie dishes, they all look really good! I have yet to try hominy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Everything you mentioned sounds so good, especially that dip.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I could definitely eat this dip just as a meal in and of itself!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Now you have got me sooo hungry....

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's pretty high praise but it does look wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment! At the moment I am having a huge problem with spam so I've had to add comment moderation and close off comments to anonymous users. I apologize for the trouble and hope to return my comments to normal shortly.