Home made tortilla strips with roasted salsa and smoky bean dip

One of the kitchen tools I simply can't do without is my Cuisinart food processor.  It's solidly built and reliable.  I have the 14-cup model.  Somehow I've lost several of the cutting blades, but I still have the critical chopping/mixing blade.

I probably use the Cuisinart at least five times a week.  It's simply irreplaceable when it comes to pureeing and mixing smooth sauces.

My Cuisinart - I couldn't imagine life without her

Today I saw it sitting in the corner of the kitchen, silently pleading for attention.  I had a fridge full of fresh produce from Jon's so I decided to make some simple baked tortilla strips, roasted salsa and a smoky & spicy black bean dip.

Mmm... fresh, healthy and bursting with flavor

As always, I started with the freshest ingredients possible:

Fresh onions, tomatoes and garlic, black beans and adobo paste

My list includes:

2 pounds roma tomatoes
2 bunches green onions
4 yellow or white onions
1-2 red onions
1-2 bulbs garlic

The first step is the most tedious - quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds and white core.  Arrange them in cooking pans (coated with Pam cooking spray to make clean-up easier):

Tomatoes ready for roasting

Pop them in an oven.  Temperature is not critical, but the hotter you make it the more closely you have to watch them.  I chose 350 degrees.

While the tomatoes are roasting, start work on the onions.  Slice them thickly (1/4") and lay them in a medium-hot skillet to dry-fry.  Add a touch of oil if you want, but my sweetie likes it when I eliminate oils and salt from any recipe.  You want to see them get blackened on each side, and become a little soft throughout.  Use tongs to flip them - don't worry if they begin to fall apart or cook unevenly.  We're not trying to win a beauty contest.

Dry frying the onions

You can add some serrano peppers to the pan as well.  After they blister a bit, let them cool and remove the stems and seeds.  I don't put peppers in my salsa any more because my sweetie won't touch it if I do.

When the tomatoes start to brown on the edges it's time to remove them.

The smell of fresh roasted tomatoes is fantastic!

All this roasting will bring out the flavor in the onions and tomatoes.  Now we add some fresh stuff as we run it all through the food processor to finely puree.  A whole lot of cilantro and green onions (chopped first) for starters, then (optionally) a little lemon or lime juice, salt, fresh black pepper and olive oil to taste.

Set the salsa aside (if possible, let it rest in the fridge overnight before serving) and get to work on your smoky & spicy black bean dip!

Peel two full bulbs of garlic, remove the brown woody stem part and crush the heck out of them!  No need to chop them as they'll be visiting our friend the Cuisinart later.  Put them in a wok / skillet over low heat with about a tablespoon of oil (I used sunflower).

The smell of simmering garlic is close to heaven

Chop some onions and add them to the pan once the garlic begins to soften.  Keep it cooking low & slow, stirring often - we want them to soften and release their flavors - we don't want to brown them.

Add the fragrance of onions and I'm in a state of bliss

Once the onions are translucent, add spices to your taste.  Dried spices are best added at this point as the hot oil will draw the flavors out and infuse the dish with them.  But -- don't do this over high heat or for longer than five minutes or the dry spices will release bitter flavors.

I added cayenne pepper (dried in this case), cumin and a touch of sage.  You can always raise the heat level later.

Time to spice it up!

Then I added some adobo paste, which benefits from a brief bath in the hot oil.

Finally, I emptied a full can of black beans, with the liquid, into the pan.  Note that this adds some salt, so take that into account if you're adding salt later.

Simmer over very low heat for about 30 minutes.  Then remove to the food processor, add green onions, cliantro and raw red onion.  Run the food processor until it's a smooth paste.  During the processing, add salt and additional pepper to taste.

You're done.  Now we need something to dip in our wonderful fresh salsa and bean dip.  We prefer my home-made tortilla strips to store-bought any day.  For one, they're warm and fresh.  Two, we can cut down on the salt.  And three, I often use flour tortillas for a unique flavor.  They're very easy to make.

I often use home-made tortillas for these.  That will be the topic of a future post.

It's simple - take tortillas and cut them into strips.  For this I used my KitchenAid kitchen shears, another tool I couldn't live without.  Lay them on a cookie sheet that you've sprayed with Pam cooking spray.

Ready to make our chili-lime tortilla strips!

Spray lightly, then sprinkle with seasonings.  I wanted a chili-lime flavor, so I used cayenne pepper, sour salt and kosher salt.

(Sour salt is not salt at all.  It's citric acid -- the stuff that makes lemons and limes sour -- in a powdered form.)

Homemade is always better!

Bake for roughly 10 minutes at 300 degrees -- you will have to watch as cooking time varies depending on the type of tortillas you use.

Everything's best warm, so heat up the salsa and bean dip and serve the chips fresh from the oven!