Whether it’s a casual get-together or a special event, celebrations tend to revolve around food. If you have diabetes, this can add on a layer of stress to any social situation. Being unsure of what you can eat without having a negative impact on blood sugar levels may lead to you avoiding some of your favorite menu options. Finger foods and appetizers can often seem off limits, but they don’t have to be. By using Flatout Flatbread, you can create fiber-rich, reduced carbohydrate snack chips that can be enjoyed with any dip, such as this spicy black bean dip recipe. Having a lower carbohydrate appetizer option available allows you more freedom with your food selection throughout the remainder of the event.

Holy frijoles! Does Mexican food make you drool with excitement, like I do? Not only is it so totally satisfying, but it’s also a very nostalgic cuisine for this writer, who ate beans almost every night after class. There was this little Mexican place with a home made salsa bar in my college town, and many nights, I’d order bean dip and chips (I think it was under $1) and load my dip up with salsa from the bar and have that with the chips for dinner. Everyone who worked there, embarrassingly, knew my face, and exactly what I would order.

Now that I’m no longer a college kid, when we eat Mexican out, so many times we load up on tons of cheese and extras that push us over the edge of what we can comfortably handle. Resulting in, and I can speak from experience here, massive food guilt. I would have been just as happy with chips and dip! Oh, okay, a margarita, too. Who am I kidding?

Beans are a great way to get protein and fiber, and they are so inexpensive and easy to prepare if you have a few hours, or even a slowcooker. They’re not just for college kids anymore; sometimes they’re for post grads with student loans, or for that certain someone (me) who has resolved to go meatless 3 days a week. How fun would it be to pack along a homemade bean dip with chips you make in the oven with Flatout flatbread?

There’s a whole world of beautiful heirloom beans out there, too, besides the pintos and the navys. and with a little online searching, I’ve been able to find some great heirloom varieties that would also work well in this recipe. For this dip, I’m using black beans for popularity’s sake, but if you have other beans, fresh or canned, by all means use them. Make sure you watch the sodium levels in any canned bean you buy, and rinse them thoroughly before using.

And about the flatbread: if you’d like to brush each flatbread with a little olive oil or lime juice and dust with a sprinkle of chile powder before baking, go right ahead. It all depends on your preferred level of spice and how heartily you can fend off your coworkers advances when lunchtime arrives, as you are contentedly snacking away. Next week, you might have to bring a double recipe.

Amy at Flatout