Black Bean and Queso Dip: Yummy Yummy

I promised and now I’m delivering.  I said I would make some Black Bean and Queso Dip.  We pulled through and made it and believe me, it’s delicious!

Ingredients: 1 cup dry Black Beans

1 10 oz. can Rotel Tomatoes and Chili

1/2 block Velveeta Cheese

1 block Cream Cheese

1 Small Onion

1 Stalk Celery

The first thing you have do is take your 1 cup of dry black beans and soak them for 8 to 10 hours.  You have to add moisture back into the bean before you can cook them.  Otherwise they will be a big, dry mess.  You don’t have to do anything special with the beans.  Just throw them in a bowl that is substantially bigger and add quite a bit of water to them.  The beans will expand and soak up the water.

After you soak them, you need to strain and rinse the beans.  Because they’re black beans some of the color will soak into the water.  Strain and rinse the beans several times until the black coloring quits running off of them.  Once that is done, throw the beans into a kettle.  Dice up the celery and onion and add them along with just enough water to cover the beans.

Bring the pot to a light simmer and let it cook for 50 minutes.  Make sure to stir regularly to keep the beans from burning.  At the end of the 50 minutes if the beans are still a little hard don’t be afraid to cook them for a while longer.  After the beans are soft enough, grab a fork and mash up the beans.

While you’re simmering the beans for 50 minutes it’s time to get the dip ready.  Get out your dip sized crock pot.  Now, I haven’t registered for my bridal shower yet so there isn’t a crock pot younger than me in our house.  I’m using the crock pot my mother got for her bridal shower.  Please, keep this in mind.  Add the Velveeta, cream cheese and Rotel.

Turn the crock pot on low and stir it occasionally just to make sure it’s melting evening.  After the beans are done, add the beans into the mixture.

The dip is all finished.  If the cheese isn’t totally melted when you add the beans just keep heating it until it’s all ready.  This is a great dip for parties or get togethers and of course is delicious.