Crispy Black Bean Fritters with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Some days I just do not want to cook dinner. The day has been long, and full, and exhausting, and eating a heaping bowl of cereal for dinner sounds like the perfect surrender. In the past this has been my occasional habit, however just last week I watched a TED talk by Jamie Oliver that discussed the importance of cooking that reinforced and inspired my love for cooking that much more.

Oliver argued that more and more of my young adult generation does not know how to cook a well-balanced meal, let alone operate efficiently in a kitchen. Cooking is a skill that must be taught, practiced, and nurtured.  Without that guidance and example, the art of cooking may gradually turn into an understanding of microwaveable meals and eating out. The bottom line is, we eat healthier when we know how to cook. We eat out less, consuming accurate proportion sizes. We depend less on heavily processed microwaveable foods, have the liberty to enjoy fresh produce, and can enjoy flavor from herbs instead of sugar and/or salt alone.

Reflecting on this message made me so grateful for the people in my life who taught me what I already know about cooking, and for those of you reading this post that provide me with inspiration to keep learning. I am nowhere near an expert at cooking, but I do love trying new recipes and sharing my favorites! Thank you for continuing to come back and visit my site. I hope you enjoy these delicious crispy black bean fritters! With a creamy cilantro dipping sauce, you will be so glad you decided to cook tonight. Enjoy!

Fritter Ingredients:

• 3 cups black bean, cooked
• 1 large yellow pepper, remove seed, chop into small pieces
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large tomato, chopped into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ½ cup all purpose unbleached flour
• ¼ cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• Sea salt and black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil (for frying)

Cilantro Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

• ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• ½ small green chili, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Dash of lime juice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all of the fritter ingredients apart from the olive oil, and mix well. If the mixture looks too moist in your opinion, or as if it will be difficult to make clumps out of the bean mixture- add either more flour or bread crumbs as you desire.
2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 ½ Tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat.*
4. Once the skillet is hot, use a Tablespoon to scoop clumps of the bean mixture and fry for about three minutes, or until golden and crispy. Once crispy on one side, flip the fritter and fry for an additional three minutes.
5. Place cooked fritters on a paper towel to absorb any extra olive oil.
6. Serve warm with cilantro dipping sauce on the side.
7. To make the Cilantro dipping sauce: place all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Season with sea salt and black pepper as desired and keep refrigerated after use.

Notes and Tips!:

• I used a non-stick skillet and did not feel the need to use too much olive oil, which is why I suggested 1 ½ Tablespoons of olive oil. The original recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons, so play it by ear and use however much you need.
• This recipe makes a lot of dipping sauce! If you are preparing this recipe for a party, you may want that much dipping sauce, however you could probably get away with half that amount of sauce normally.
• Adapted from: Mia’s Dominion
• If you like this recipe, check out my Southwestern Egg Rolls and Spiced Black Bean, Corn, and Avocado Quesdaillas!