Caribbean Spiced Smoky Black Bean Salad with Chipotle Peppers, Cilantro and Feta Cheese - Served with Crunchy Tortilla Chips and Tostones

Serve this as a side dish like a salad or serve it up as a dip with tortilla chips. This bean dip will keep for days and is wonderful, casual food that is popular with many different palates. The flavors actually are even better the next day as they meld together. This dip/salad imparts Cuban, Caribbean and Mexican flavors and is very popular with everyone. I always serve it with tons of chips. Your guests can decide whether to use them or not. They can pile them on a plate or use them to dip out the savory and slightly spicy black beans. I also like to serve Tostones on the side. Tostones are plantain chips that are popular in Central and South America that are prepared from mashed plantains that are formed into thin patties and fried. They are usually sold in the freezer section of the grocery store. Leftovers taste even better, so make extra. Serve it over lettuce on another day or over chicken for a main course.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: none with canned beans, approximately 45 minutes if you cook the black beans from scratch

Serves: 8 as a salad, or 20 as an appetizer with chips

Salad Ingredients:

2 - 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes

4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed or 8 cups of black beans, soaked overnight and then cooked as per package directions

2 chipotle peppers, minced from a can of chipotle peppers, reserve the liquid for the dressing

1 medium red onion, diced

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1 bunch of cilantro, coarsely chopped

5 sprigs of green onion, sliced thin. Reserve some for topping

Dressing Ingredients:

¼ cup good olive oil

¼ cup good vinegar

1 Tbs sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon salt or more to taste

1 Tbs of the liquid from the can of chipotle peppers

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Topping:

1 8 ounce container of crumbled Feta Cheese

3 Tbs chopped parsley

Sliced radishes

For Serving:

Tortilla Chips

Tostone Chips

Directions:

1. Make your dressing by tossing all of the dressing ingredients together. Whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, the sugar, the chipotle liquid, the powdered cumin and the salt and pepper.

2. Toast the whole cumin seeds in a hot skillet until they pop. This will take about 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. Drain the tomatoes.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled beans with the drained tomatoes, the whole toasted cumin seeds, the red onion, the diced chipotle peppers, the sliced green onions and the cilantro.

5. Toss the dressing into the black bean mixture. Adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. Add more Chipotle liquid if you would like it spicier.

6. Place in a serving bowl. Top with the crumbled Feta cheese, radishes, chopped parsley and the reserved sliced green onions.

7. Serve at room temperature in a bowl with tortilla chips or plantain chips or tostones or all three.