Shrimp and Black Bean Wontons

Black beans are one of those foods that has taken me a while to warm up to.  A long while.  Whenever I wander into Chipotle, I always get my burrito bowl sans beans since I don’t load up on the other fixings that could distract me from the fact that THERE ARE BLACK BEANS IN MY CHICKEN AND RICE.   Good Lord, if that doesn’t make me sound like a picky eater I don’t know what does.  But at least I don’t have any restrictions on letting my foods touch.  That has to be its own special kind of hell for parents of picky eaters.

So yes, distraction is my way of coping with black beans.  If a recipe calls for beans, I look to see if there are enough other ingredients that will provide camouflage.  Or strong flavors.  Major bonus points if both other ingredients and strong flavors are present in the recipe.  Sorry black bean burgers, you will never earn those bonus points in my grade book.

Despite my pickiness, I am slowly beginning to make my peace with black beans.  I don’t have a lot of recipes in my repertoire that use them but at least now I don’t turn my nose up at the rows of black beans lined up like soldiers as I walk through the grocery store aisles.  And occasionally, I even reach up and grab a can or two.

Shrimp and Black Bean Wontons

Adapted from My Morning Chocolate

BAH Note: I had more wontons than I had filling, so I baked some up like chips.  You could, if you were so inclined, deconstruct this recipe so that the wonton filling is baked up in a dish like a dip and served with the wonton “chips”.  Either way, black beans + shrimp + cream cheese + strong flavors = major bonus points.

• 1/2 can black beans
• 1 cup cooked shrimp, tails and shells removed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon corriander
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1 shallot, diced
• wonton wrappers

Rinse and drain the beans and place them in a large mixing bowl.  Chop the shrimp roughly and add it to the bowl of beans.  Add all remaining ingredients other than the wonton wrappers, stir to thoroughly combine, taste and add more spices or salt as necessary.  Cover the bowl and set it aside.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees and line two half sheet pans with parchment.

Place 10 – 12 wonton wrappers on each pan.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling onto each wonton, not quite in the center.  Use a wet finger to moisten two sides of each wonton, fold each wonton in half to form a triangle, and press the edges with the tines of a fork to seal.

Brush the tops lightly with olive oil and bake for 10-12  minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are browned and crisp.

{printable recipe}