Avocado and Black Bean Crostini

Okay, seriously, you have to make these, they are so, so good. The combination of flavors with the herb and parsley butter is just too good to pass up. I made these at my house, and everyone that was there just couldn't get enough of them. In fact, Kelly told me several days after we had these that she and her husband where still thinking about them.

These make a great appetizer, or you could even serve them as a light lunch I think. If you don't have the bread, just eat it on tortilla chips. It is not as good without the bread and butter, but it is still mighty tasty.

The recipe says to leave the avocados separate from the bean/tomato mixture, however, to simplify, I just mixed them all together.

Avocado and Black Bean Crostini
From The Culinary Institute of America Vegetables

Pictures by Caroline

Recipe:
24 baguette slices, ¼-inch thick
¼ cup garlic and parsley butter (I just melted some butter, added some garlic salt and parsley flakes)
½ cup small-dice Vidalia onion (I used a sweet yellow onion)
½ cup small-dice plum tomatoes
¾ cup cooked or canned black beans drained and rinsed
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper as needed
2 avocados
2 tbsp lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp ground cumin
24 cilantro or parsley leaves, washed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Toast the baguette slices in the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the outside edges are golden brown. Spread each baguette slide with approximately ½ teaspoon of the garlic butter. Reserve the toasts until needed.
3. Combine the onions, tomatoes, black beans, cilantro, and vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Peel and core one of the avocados and dice into ¼-inch pieces. Combine the avocado with 1 tablespoon of the lime juice, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Peel and core the remaining avocado. Slice each half across the meridian into 8 slices. Sprinkle the avocado with the remaining lime juice to prevent oxidation.
6. Spread 1 heaping teaspoon of the avocado mixture of each crostini. Top with 1 tablespoon of the black bean mixture. Garnish with an avocado slice and a cilantro leaf.

My alternate directions:In order to simplify the whole process I cut both avocados into small pieces and combined them with all the lime juice, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. After I had pretty well coated the avocados in the lime juice mixture, I just added them to the tomato/black bean mixture. This way I just had one topping for the crostinis rather than having several layers of toppings.