Recipe: Geoffrey's Bean & Salsa Chip Dip

Here’s a tasty and easy to make chip dip that my family really likes. It can be made vegetarian or with chicken or ground beef.

Geoffrey’s Bean & Salsa Chip Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 (16-oz) can refried beans
  • 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup salsa (mild, medium, or hot)
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped or 1 can (14-oz) of chopped/diced tomatoes
  • 1-2 cups (4-8 oz.) shredded Fiesta blend cheese (monterey jack, cheddar, queso quesadilla, and asadero) or cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped green onions (approx.)
  • 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro (approx.)
  • 1 lb. (approx.) of chicken or lean ground beef (optional)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
  • 1 big bag of restaurant-style tortilla chips

Recipe

  1. If you are using pre-prepared chicken or beef, or going vegetarian, skip this step. If you are using and starting with uncooked chicken or beef, you’ll have to cook it first. Cook the meat over medium-high heat until browned (beef) or no longer pink in the middle (chicken), stirring frequently, then drain the juices (fat, grease). After cooking, cut the chicken into small thin pieces (preferrably shredded). I prefer chicken over beef, and I prefer to use plain canned chicken (drained) because it makes the preparation of this dish easier and the canned chicken shreds easily with a fork, allowing the chicken to be mixed evenly into the dip.
  2. Mix together the refried beans, tomato sauce, salsa, the cooked chicken or beef, about half of the cheese, and half to all of the chopped/diced tomatoes. You may want to save some of the tomatoes for garnishing. Cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated and bubbly.
  3. Remove from heat. Mix in about half of the green onions and cilantro. Pour the dip into a serving bowl and top with the remaining cheese, green onions, cilantro, and tomatoes. If using sour cream, first combine the sour cream and cheese in a small bowl and mix well. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Geoffrey is an Aristotelian-Libertarian political philosopher, writer, editor, and web designer. He is the founder of the Libertarian Fiction Authors Association. His academic work has appeared in Libertarian Papers, the Journal of Libertarian Studies, the Journal of Value Inquiry, and Transformers and Philosophy. He lives in Greenville, NC.