Happy Cinco de Mayo! We were early on the celebrating this year. We attended a neighborhood bash on Saturday, because we just couldn’t get it together for tonight (too many darn kids running in too many darn directions). Delicious empanadas, fajitas, and frijoles a la charra.

Then, in our household, yesterday I needed a meal I could throw together quickly and early and with what I had on hand, so that everyone could feed themselves when they came in from baseball practice, before the baseball game, and from the baseball game, respectively. It ended up being a great, family-pleasing meal — I love when that happens!

I have a divided crockpot. In half, I put 4 chicken breasts, a can of enchilada sauce, and a can of diced green chiles. In the other half, I put 2 cans of red kidney beans, a large can of diced tomatoes, a cup of white rice, uncooked, a teaspoon of garlic, some salt, pepper, and cumin, and about ¼ cup of diced red peppers that I had on hand. I turned the crockpot on High at 2:30; I cut up some avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, black olives, green onions, and put them and shredded cheese, salsa, and sour cream in Tupperwares together in the fridge, defrosted some tortillas, and by 5:30, the chicken was cooked and ready to be shredded and returned to the sauce, and the rice and beans were cooked (but I might add about ½ cup of water next time) — soft chicken tacos with red beans and rice, from where there was no original meal plan, I love it! (And, as it turned out, thunder and lightning ended the first game early and canceled the second game altogether, so we got to sit down and eat as a family, even better.)

Tonight, we’ll grill, but my nod to Cinco de Mayo will be this Black Bean Salad that my family has lovingly turned into a dip (or filling for burritos and tacos). It’s one of the healthiest dips you’ll find. (Oh, and we’ll have a glass of sangria.) Enjoy!

Black Bean Salad

2 16 oz can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 tomato, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, minced
½ t cumin
2 dashes Tabasco pepper sauce
2 small garlic cloves, minced
4 T balsamic vinegar
8 T olive oil
salt and pepper
2 avocados, diced

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes to combine flavors. (Can be prepared up to 2 days in advanced and refrigerated.)

Just before serving, add diced avocado, correct seasonings, and serve on a leaf of Boston lettuce as a salad, or as a dip with tortilla chips.