Crock Pot Refried Bean Dip

Yes, I love my crock pot! And so I was delighted to find this 1975 Best-seller: Crockery Cookery by Mable Hoffman. See her pictured above with two of her (one can only assume) MANY crock pots! I hope that someday I can be as cool as Mable. And I might be, because later that VERY DAY, I received in the mail a valentines gift from a dear pal: a new, yet similar, cookbook, entitled “Not your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook”. (I gather the more PC term is Slow Cooker – wouldn’t want to offend anyone – or any electrical appliances - now would I?)

I will certainly be trying many of the recipes in the new book – they call for Fresh Produce and Cuts of Meat I have Actually Heard of! Still, I have The Weakness for the Vintage, so I began with a simple recipe from Mabel.

Having missed out on a Superbowl party this year because of travel, I was still craving dip, and was reminded of the time when a friend from the UK asked me what Americans do at Superbowl patries and I gleefully explained to her that, why, we eat DIP! Then I had to tell her what that is. Ah, the English – I love that we are mutually foreign. Anyhow, the bean dip was great with restaurant-style tortilla chips, but would have been tasty with Fritos as well, I think. It tasted remarkably familiar to some of us, and we later identified the mysterious flavor: Taco Bell Bean Burrito!

The thing with the crock pot is that, despite Mable and others assuring us that nearly ANYTHING can be made in them, I have found that some things work better than others. Luckily, refried bean dip is one that works quite well! And again, is sooooo easy to make that you feel like you aren’t ACTUALLY cooking. Because, haha, you’re not! You’re just tossing a few things into a glorified bucket and walking away for several hours.

REFRIED BEAN DIP

1 (20 oz) can refried beans
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped green onions
¼ tsp. salt
2 tsp. bottled taco sauce (I used hot sauce)
Tortilla chips

In slow-cooking pot, combine beans with cheese, onions, salt, and taco sauce. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 2 ½ hours. Serve hot from the pot. Dip tortilla chips into mixture.

* OK I didn’t serve it from the pot because my crock pot is the HUGE one, and this was a LITTLE amount of dip and it would have looked SILLY! Also I did add a cilantro garnish. I mean, I was taking this to a party, after all!