Cinco de Mayo.
Honestly, I’ve never been a huge celebrator of the holiday. Probably because it’s been trying to steal my birthday thunder for the last twenty-five years.
Oh, and my birthday was absolutely wonderful by the way. Thank you for asking. It was full of love and food and more love.
But that is beside the point. The point is that this year, I wanted to do the holiday the justice that it deserves. And not just because it is a great reason to drink tequila.
I really wanted to celebrate because I had a very special guest for dinner this week and I really wanted to impress him with my Mexican cooking skills. No, I did not have a hot date over. I’m still on the lookout for one of those.
Tuesday night, one of my best friends and former roommates, Jeanelle's little brother Carlo came for dinner. When she moved to Europe to pursue her dreams of travel and more schooling, I promised her I would take care of Carlo like he was my own brother.
My duties so far have included phone calls for directions, helping him pick out flowers for a girl and cooking for him. Even though brothers (biological an adopted) can be a total pain, the love they bring totally compensates for them making me want to pull my hairs out one by one.
Having him around was such a delight and completely made it feel like she was there with us. Did I mention Jeanelle loves Cinco de Mayo?
Really she just loves any excuse to dance and drink, but she REALLY loves Mexican food. Something I know she isn’t getting a whole lot of while living in the Netherlands. So here is a great dish for her, her wonderful brother and all those who love some delicious south of the boarder food.
By the way, the bean dip is AMAZING all by itself.
You will need…
For the Pizza’s:
4 corn tortillas, or whole-wheat tortillas
1/2 cup Black Bean Dip
1 large tomato diced
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
½ cup manchego cheese, grated (optional)
For the Dip:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F.
To make the bean dip, start by heating the oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Add the onions and sauté them until they soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the jalapeno and cook for 1 minute more.
Put the beans into a food processor. Add the onion mixture and the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth.
The lid to my food processor is MIA so I used my emersion blender and a cocktail shaker. Classy!
To assemble the pizzas, place the tortillas onto a baking sheet and spread 2 tablespoons of black bean dip on top of each tortilla.
Top with the tomato, cabbage and cheese if you are using it and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the pizzas from the oven and sprinkle some cilantro on each one. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into wedges.
Serve them hot, Hot, HOT!
Aye Yi Yi!!
Love and Beer Floats and Lots of Tequila
Angela
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