Spooky Black Sesame Bean Dip with Sweet and Purple Potato Halloween Chips

 

 

Last March I had a wonderful trip to Israel and spent a beautifully delicious day in Nazareth. Among our zillion stops in that fascinating city was one at a Halva factory where I picked up a container of black sesame paste. I admit back then I had the intention of using it to create a Halloween party food recipe.

This dip, a loose riff on hummus, is spicy and delicious and, most importantly simple to whip together. Fragrant black sesame paste is blended together with black beans, garlic, and lemon juice. I added some cayenne pepper for a flavor sting.

Of course, I couldn’t just stop at creating the dip. Leftover purple and sweet potatoes were sliced (use a mandolin for evenness), shaped with cookies cutters then fried in vegetable oil to create some Halloween themed potato chips.

The dip by itself takes a total of 10 minutes to throw together. The chips, obviously a bit longer. To save time and energy, use store-bought chips but don’t skip the dip.

Black Sesame Bean Dip with

Sweet and Purple Potato Halloween Chips

Prep time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans
• 1/4 cup black sesame paste
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced (to keep the vampires at bay)
• 1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it
• 2-4 tablespoons water
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• pinch of sugar
• 2 large purple potatoes
• 1 large sweet potato
• Haloween cutters
• Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

• Drain and rinse the black beans.
• In a food processor puree the beans, the black sesame paste, lemon juice and minced garlic.
• Add the cayenne pepper a bit at a time until the mixture has enough heat for your preference.
• Pulse in the water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture thins out enough to dip consistency.
• Season with the Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar to taste.
• Transfer the dip to a serving bowl and place in the fridge.
• Heat the oil in a deep saucepan or a skillet.
• Peel the potatoes and use a mandolin or sharp knife to cut the potatoes into thin slices.
• Use the cutters to cut out shapes in the potato slices.
• Pat excess moisture off of the potato cutouts.
• Place a layer of paper towels beside the stove
• Fry the cutouts in the oil in batches until crispy. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer the chips to the paper towels to drain. Lightly salt the chips.
• Serve the bean dip with the chips.