BSI – Lime! Beef and Black Bean Empanadas with Cilantro-Lime Dip

My Kitchen Addiction is the host for this weeks BSI – Lime!  I was glad that I was able to submit an entry – its been a few weeks since I have!

I utilized lime in both my filling and in the sauce – zest went into the beef and bean mixture, and the juice of a whole lime went into the dip.  The dip turned out AMAZING!  Very bright!

Cilantro-Lime Dip

• 1 six ounce container of Oikos (just happened to be the brand I picked up) plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• juice of one lime
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon juice from pickled jalapenos
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• a pinch of Splenda (it was too tart without it!)

Mix together and let chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the empanadas, I made this bread dough, except I used whole wheat white – King Arthur brand.  Each empanada was 1.5 ounces of dough, a generous tablespoon of filling.  My kitchen was hot, so I had to put my empanadas in the freezer 5 minutes before deep frying them.

Beef and Bean Filling

• 10 ounces of ground beef, cooked
• 1 cup canned black beans that have been rinsed
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• zest of one lime
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
• 3 ounces queso fresco cheese

If I were making these just for me, I definitely would have put chopped pickled jalapenos in here!  I rolled out the dough and using water sealed the edges.

Then I put them on my cookie sheet, and used a fork to really make sure they were sealed – I didn’t want to lose any filling!

Then into the deep fryer for 2 minutes a side.  I served them with the dipping sauce on the side for dunking.

These were crunchy and doughy at the same time – a perfect combination in my book!  I may have tried everything on a chip – and that was delicious too!

This is definitely a keeper!  Tony and I went to the store together, and I ended up going over my budget by $16.  Oh well!  I guess $141 for the week isn’t bad, and I’ll still have meat leftover for next week, so maybe I’ll be under next week and it will be a wash.  Look at all the dried chile’s my store has!  I needed dried pasilla peppers for my Rick Bayless soup I am just about to put together for my lunch this week.

 

Alright – I have to finish this post so I can submit this recipe!  Off to make my soup and then clean the kitchen.  I think Hannah’s had mild heart attacks walking by and seeing all of my mess!  

See you tomorrow! 😀