May 8: A Smell You Adore

Oh, the five senses. What would we do without them? Whenever I was in grade school and a teacher would ask which was my favorite of the five senses, I could never choose! They're all so indispensable. And they seem to work together on so many levels that they really feel synonymous to me.

I think the sense of smell is kind of like the icing on the cake. It's this extra bonus that can enhance any experience. So, I tried to think of all the smells I just love. I thought of freshly brewed coffee, my various perfumes, cut grass, my favorite body wash, baking cookies, ocean spray, hazelnut candles, apple pie, etc. I could go on and on. But I wanted something a little different. Something out of the box. And something that I could smell in my house today.

So, I chose cilantro. I LOVE the smell of cilantro! It's so fresh and clean and mouthwatering. It makes me think of exotic, far-off places and delicious Mexican cuisine. When I find a leafy, green bundle of cilantro in my fridge, I get so excited because I know my mom is going to make something totally delicious and rather special.

Most of the time, we will use our cilantro to make copycat Chipotle burritos. They are so scrumptious! We put cilantro in the rice and in our homemade pico de gallo. Yum! But today, we used the cilantro to make a bean dip.

Let me tell you something. This is not just any old bean dip! This is the bean dip of all bean dips! I love this stuff, and I don't even like beans! That's how good it is. It's got all of these wonderful, fresh veggies in there, and you can eat it pretty much any way you can think of. We've eaten it on grilled chicken, with tortilla chips, or just by itself as a salad. It's fantastic!

Today, we were out of tortilla chips, so we tried to make our own. ;) Didn't work out so well. It tasted fine, but there definitely wasn't any crunch factor going on. I'm not complaining, though because the bean dip makes up for all else!

So, if you're interested, here's the recipe to THE bean dip:

Can't Stop Eating Bean Dip
(courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Ingredients

 2 15 oz. cans of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 15 oz. can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1/2 c. onion (finely chopped)
1/2 c. green pepper (chopped)
1/4 c. cilantro (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 T. oil
6 T. lime juice

Instructions

Combine beans, corn, onion, pepper, cilantro, tomato, cumin, salt, garlic, oil and lime juice in a large container. Cover and refrigerate overnight (if possible).

Pretty easy, right? And oh, so delicious! I hope you enjoy!