Tuesdays at the Table

The second weekend of our vacation next week will be spent celebrating the wedding of a college friend in the town where we all went to school. We are, of course, super stoked to spend a few days with our college pals. The boys been calling non-stop the last two days, planning and plotting their no-doubt appropriately adult juvenile activities. The part I'm maybe not so stoked about - we're staying in the college dorm where the boys spent their senior year. As in bringing our own linens, sleeping in twin beds and showering in the nastiness that is a boys' college dorm room. I could barely stand to use the bathroom in there five years ago. I shudder to consider the state of the showers and what has likely gone on there in days past. Note to self: Pack rain boots for showering.

Sleeping arrangements aside, I am still super psyched. So in honor of our upcoming adventure, I'm going to share a favorite recipe from those hallowed halls. My friend Tre introduced us to this tastiness fall semester of freshman year. I am pretty sure five of my freshman fifteen came from this bean dip. For four years the bean dip was Tre's signature dish. She would share the love, but never the recipe. Then the last week of senior year - TADA! A sweet card and the recipe for all her girls! Now that's friendship.

So when we moved on the grad school, I made the bean dip my signature dish. 1. It's easy. 2. It has less than 10 ingredients. My kind of dish, right? Pretty soon, I wasn't allowed to make anything but Tre's Bean Dip for tailgating. In fact, I think I would have been turned away at the door if I'd ever dared to bring something else! Six years and two states later, I still take this to practically every tailgate, cookout and Euchre party.

Tre's Bean Dip

Ingredients:
2 cans pre-seasoned black beans
1 small jar of cumin
1 16 ounce jar of sour cream
1 packet taco seasoning
2 jars salsa (Mix mild and medium or medium and hot)
1 large package of Mexican style cheese
Tortillas for dipping

Instructions:
1. Drain black beans and pour into 13x9 pan.
2. Sprinkle 2 tbsp cumin on beans and stir until beans are coated. Spread beans across bottom of pan.
3. In a separate bowl, mix taco seasoning and sour cream. Layer on top of beans.
4. Layer salsa on top of sour cream.
5. Sprinkle on as much cheese as desired. (I use the whole darn package!)
6. Chill in fridge for one hour OR heat in oven at 350.
7. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.
8. Say a little thank you to God that Tre shared this recipe once upon a time.