Cookery: an easy recipe (which is also yummy)

When I cook, I rarely use recipes. I like to just do the whole pinch, dab, dollop method. 

Well, I have made this dish quite a few times. It's super simple, and pretty much one of those "duhh" things to make, since it's sooo easy. You'd probably come up with this on your own. I was craving a queso-type dip one night, and this is what I came up with. I get requests to make it, so I know that other people find it yummy too. 

I am proof that cooking is not some scary science that takes forever: try this (I took pictures!)

Since some of you lovely readers might be interested in making yummy, easy, relatively-healthy food, here's what I do for my three-pepper black bean and chicken dip (it's a working title): 

Here's what you'll need: 

≈ 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (I like mozzarella) 

≈ 1/2 cup sour cream

≈ 1 oz cream cheese 

1 can of black beans

1 can of chicken 

Spices (all to taste)

Cayenne powder

Cumin

Coriander 

Crushed red pepper

Black pepper

Salt

The Instructions: 

First, get a saucepan. Simple enough, right? 

THEN, you get some black beans. And in the background you can see there's a can of chicken. Black beans and chicken.
Since I'm typing this in baby steps, you open the cans and drain them. This is a crucial step.
Really, very, crucial. Your dip won't work out otherwise:

Example of opened, drained cans. 

Next step, add to the saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium.

You don't even have to separate them like I did... 

 Ok, next step. Add a few dollops of sour cream (1/2 cup perhaps?) and if you feel like it, maybe an ounce of cream cheese. Stir it all together, and wait for your mixture to get bubbly:

So far so good, right? 

 Now for the fun/slightly tricky part. The Spices.
Yes, they are Capitalized.
I used Cumin,
Cayenne,
Crushed Red Pepper,
Coriander (that stuff can go in everything, it's good stuff),
Black Pepper, and
Salt.
I didn't take a picture of the salt... I'm SURE you know what that looks like. ...I hope you do.

Zee Spices

So, I usually put the spices in until I know it will taste good
...but I'd suggest that, at first, you add a dusting of cumin, a teensy bit of cayenne (whatever your spicy thresh-hold level is, I dunno. I like spicy foods, so I'm heavy-handed with the pepper, but go easy on it. It's really hard to make something un-spicy)
sprinkle in some crushed red pepper,
add maybe a teaspoon of coriander,
and a dusting of black pepper.
Oh, and a pinch or two of salt.
Taste, add more spice if you think it necessary.

(I have a plethora of tasting spoons that I use to make sure that my dip is *just* right.  It's a process...sprinkle some, stir, ladle some into a tasting bowl...then add more spice until it hits the "yum point")

Here's what my pan looked like after I added the spices:

colorful

 Ok, so you stir in your spices. Then, you add cheese! IF this is supposed to be queso-type food, you need some queso.
...I didn't take a picture of the cheese.
I used shredded mozzarella. (A mixture of cultures! Italian and Mexican!)

Add maybe a cup and a half of shredded cheese, and mix your concoction together.

Allow it to get nice and bubbly again (without scorching it, of course), then put it in a dish and serve it with some hint-of-lime chips (or any kind of tortilla chips...)

Ta-daa! 

This picture doesn't do it justice. There's an art to food photography...
I must master it.

Go, and cook happily.

**Also note: if your dip seems too thin after adding all of the ingredients, mix some cornstarch with cold water (one tablespoon cornstarch to two tablespoons cold water) and add the mixture to your dip. Bring the dip back to a simmer/low boil to let the dip thicken**