Black Bean Hummmmmmmmmus

For our practical exam this week we worked with a partner to make an entrée and an appetizer using no cream, butter, cheese, or salt.  My partner, Jazman, took the entrée and I took the appetizer.  Hummus just sounded good and it's naturally pretty healthy but I wanted to do something different with it.  Our region this week was the Southwest so I tried to go with that.  I cooked up some black beans and roasted a piece of an onion, half a yellow bell pepper, four garlic cloves, and a serrano pepper.  I pureed all of that with a TON of cilantro (my chef instructor loves it as much as I do so I got away with it), about a third of a tomato, some pieces of green onion that I swiped when someone else wasn't looking ;) , olive oil, lime juice, and a spice mixture that included chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, pepper, and granulated garlic.  My hummus has a little bit of a kick and is very yummy!  Chef loved it.  He said it was a "fun twist".  I also made whole-wheat pita chips that are sprinkled with some of the same spice mix.  I am taking leftovers home to munch over the weekend.