Black Bean Orange Salsa in Spicy Wonton Cups

This Recipe is super simple and can be made up to 24 hours in advance. You will just want to wait until atleast 30 minutes before serving to put the salsa in the wontons so as not to have soggy appetizers.

If you have never tried using wonton wrappers I highly suggest it. They are extremely versitile and can be used in a wide variety of recipes. I have seen them used as quick pasta sheets for ravioli's, as chips, or for dumplings, etc... You could even slice them in strips season with whatever you like and bake to make little wonton strips for soups, salads, etc... My favorite way is for little appetizer cups as in this recipe.

The secret to the salsa for this recipe is using fresh orange. It can be a little tricky segmenting the orange, but it is well worth the trouble. I found this recipe in one of my favorite old cook books and I updated it just a little. Also, if you recall my corn fritters recipe I recently posted, the orignal recipe that inspired those is where I found this salsa recipe too. So needless to say they are really good together as well.

Spicy Wonton Cups

Tools:
-1 or 2 - 24 cup mini muffin pans - if you only have one, you can do this in two batches.

Ingredients:

48 wonton wrappers

1 package taco seasoning

1 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

Canola, Vegetable or Olive Oil cooking spray


Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375f. Lightly spray each cup in your muffin tin and set aside.
In a small bowl mix together the chili powder, taco seasoning and salt. Taking one wrapper at a time. Lightly spray the wrapper and sprinkle a pinch of of the taco seasoning mix over it. Press into the pan making a small cup shape. Repeat until tin is filled. Place in oven and bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown and slightly bubbly looking. You can make these up to a day ahead. Make sure they are completly cooled before you cover them or the steam will make them soggy.

Note: Do not put filling in the cups until you are ready to serve. The liquid from the salsa will make the bottoms of the cups soggy if you let them sit too long.


Black Bean and Orange Salsa
Original recipe found in: Pillsbury Easy Vegetarian Meals,book # 208, p. 20




2 cans black beans

2 oranges peeled, segmented and cut in small pieces - can use canned mandarin oranges if you like, but it is worth the extra work to have the fresh flavor.

1 jalapeno - seeded and finely chopped

8-10 green onions finely sliced - about a 1/3 cup

The juice and zest of one small lime

1 1/2 tbs sugar

salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Toss all ingredients in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you like a little more spice instead of black pepper, use ground red pepper or chipotle chili powder. Let rest atleast one hour and up to overnight before serving. The longer this sits, the better it gets.

To assemble the wonton cups:

Place baked wonton cups upright on a platter and divide salsa evenly among the cups. About 1-2 tsps per cup. If you have left over salsa it is really good with plain ol' corn chips too.