Summer Pinto Bean Dip

I recently decided that my slow assent into dairy-freeness is not going to be as slow as I first anticipated. Since I have a slew of odd medical maladies that I am working on eliminating, I thought it was probably best to eliminate the things I know already cause problems to my body. After a bout of hives last week, I decided the time was now and it would be cold turkey. 

Normally I am not one of those people who really craves things like cheese dips or longs for tasty treats in the grocery isle. I like to think that I have a pretty good sense of what is good and not good for my body. I have long eliminated artificial colorings and additives to what we eat. Since I have talked about it since we went gluten-free, I didn't think it would be a challenge to eliminate dairy completely from my diet. I did however underestimate how strong a hold cheese has on me. 

Folks, I am in serious cheese withdraw here. I didn't realize, but basically EVERYTHING I ate contain some sort of cheese or creamy sauce. So for the last 5 days now, I have been jonsing big time for cheese. Last night MacLeod sat down with what he calls his "dog food dip" which is comprised of spicy Italian sausage, salsa and cheese. I nearly clocked him. 

I am just trying to remind myself that I know this is for the betterment of my body, which is thanking me already as evidenced by the lack of GI discomfort and hives. Its not something anyone is making me do... nope, its for my own good. Repeat, again and again. 

So in substitution of the cheesy GI hell dip, I came back to a favorite bean dip that never fails me. It's low in fat, high in fiber and super in flavor. I whip this together and grab of bag of  (gluten-free) tortilla chips and I could seriously eat the whole bowl. I had some friends over the other night for game night and was about to tell tell "umm, yeah, I love you guys, but your really gonna have to step away from my dip now."

So I will cling to my bean dip while I move into a second week totally dairy free. Heaven help me! 

Summer Pinto Bean Dip

1- 14oz. can pinto beans

2 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4-1/2 small jalapeno pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 lime

1. In a food processor add beans, tomatoes, cilantro, pepper, salt and ground pepper. Squeeze the juice from the lime to the other ingredients. 
2. Pulse the mixture until it is just starting to get smooth. 
3. Serve with toasted bread of chips. 

*It is important to chop the cilantro before adding it to the processor or the springs of herb and just going to get stuck around the blade and not in the dip.