five-minute cilantro-lime smashed black beans!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! In the spirit of the holiday, I have decided to share my recipe for the easiest smashed black beans ever. I'm serious. They taste like you've slaved over the stove all day. And in actuality, you haven't turned on the stove at all (which is perfect if you live somewhere as hot as I do). The cilantro adds a homemade-fresh quality. Prepare your beans in five minutes. Yep, just five minutes from start to finish. Ready....go!

Here is what you need: 

• 1 food processor 
• 1 can opener 

• 2, 15 oz. cans of black beans--drain and rinse one can under running water, and use the other can as-is: with the liquid 
• a few shakes of onion powder, or more to taste
• a few shakes of garlic powder, or more to taste 
• a generous pinch or two of salt
• 1 tsp. lime juice (feel free to use the stuff that comes in a plastic lime- I usually just do a squirt or two)
• 1 bunch of cilantro (washed and ends/stems trimmed off) 

• *Optional: large spoonful of LITEHOUSE Cotija Cilantro Ultra Premium salad dressing. This stuff is AWESOME!

Now here comes the tricky part:

Add all the ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth!!!! This takes about ten seconds. Yipee! And that's it. And it's delicious. And it's good for you. And it's cheap. And no one will ever know it only took five minutes including washing the dishes!

Serve it as a dip. Heat it up and add it to a tortilla and make a burrito. Serve it under grilled chicken breast. Use it as the sauce on a Mexican pizza (yes, I've done that before). Top it with cheese. The possibilities are endless. 

I use garlic and onion powder in this because this recipe is not cooked, and raw garlic and onions tend to wreak havoc on my digestive system. But if you don't have those troubles, feel free to add some fresh onion and garlic in there instead of the powder. If you can handle the heat, add some jalapeños too. I'm a wimp when it comes to heat from peppers though.  

Happy Cinco de Mayo everybody!