Layered Mexican Dip

I brought this dip to a party last month and everyone asked me to put the recipe in my blog. It’s adapted from America’s Test Kitchen and has a fresher flavor with more distinctive layers than the usual, more muddled version. This is for you, NMF’s!

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 large tomatoes, cored, seeded, and chopped fine

  • 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and minced

  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

  • 6 scallions, 2 minced and 4 with green parts sliced thin (white parts discarded)

  • 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice plus 2 teaspoons, from 2 limes

  • ¼ teaspoon salt, divided

  • 1 can black beans (16-ounces), drained but not rinsed

  • 2 cloves minced garlic

  • ¾ teaspoon chili powder

  • 1 ½ cups sour cream

  • 4 cups shredded pepper Jack cheese

  • 3 cups My Favorite Guacamole Recipe (or mash 3 avocados with 2-3 Tablespoons lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt )

  • Tortilla chips for serving

PROCEDURE

  1. *Make a salsa: Combine tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, minced scallions, and 2 tablespoons lime juice in medium bowl. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt and let stand until tomatoes begin to soften, about 30 minutes. Strain tomato mixture and return to bowl, discarding liquid. (*If you don’t have good fresh tomatoes, throw together Adam’s Salsa instead, which uses a combination of Rotel and fresh tomatoes. Make sure you drain the salsa well before adding to the dip or it will be too wet.)

  2. Pulse black beans, garlic, remaining lime juice, chili powder, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor until it resembles chunky paste. Transfer to bowl and wipe out food processor. Pulse sour cream and 2 1/2 cups cheese until smooth. (I just process the entire 4 cups of cheese and sour cream rather than creating separate layers.) Transfer to separate bowl and refrigerate 20 min. Refrigerate bean and sour cream mixtures for about 20 min to help keep layers separate when assembling the dip.

  3. Spread bean mixture evenly over bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish or 1-quart glass bowl. Spread sour cream mixture evenly over bean layer, and sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese. Spread guacamole over cheese and top with the salsa. Sprinkle with sliced scallions and serve with tortilla chips. (Dip can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Let dip stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

RecipesSusan JohnsonComment