healthier touch to awesome super bowl foods.

For my free write blog, I would like to continually look at food in a new healthier light. Every week, I will be making at home a variety of America's favorite home cooked foods, with an added healthy twist, and blogging about the end result. With Superbowl XLIV just around the corner, I thought it appropriate to take a look at a few healthfully delicious snacks thats can be enjoyed any day of the year for this weeks blog.

Two bean dip
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 3 tablespoons dip and 4 chips)
Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained
1/2 cup chopped onion, divided
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 small garlic cloves, divided
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sliced green onion tops
Garlic Pita Chips
Preparation
Combine the Great Northern beans, 1/4 cup chopped onion, Parmesan cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1 garlic clove in a food processor; process until smooth. Spoon white bean mixture into a bowl on one side; set aside.
Combine the black beans, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 garlic clove, chiles, and cumin in a food processor; process until smooth. Spoon black bean mixture into other side of bowl containing white bean mixture.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese and green onions between 2 bean dips. Serve with Garlic Pita Chips.
Nutritional Information
Calories:
179 (13% from fat)
Fat:
2.5g (sat 1g,mono 0.3g,poly 0.4g)
Protein:
7.8g
Carbohydrate:
29.9g
Fiber:
5.4g
Cholesterol:
4mg
Iron:
2.2mg
Sodium:
272mg
Calcium:
111mg

End result

Wow! this was amazing! On a college students buget, it was affordable. All it takes is a couple of cans of beans and veggies. The presentation was lovely, and overall the dish was delicious. pita chips go great with this and are a great subsitution for greasy, fat drenched potato chips. Beans are a great source of fiber and protein. The cheese is a great touch and adds flavor and calcium. If I were going to make this again though, I might use regular, full fat cheese, because it melts better and reduces the amount of processed chemicals in the dish.