Frijole-Mole

I'm branching out a bit from the cookbook that I've been using a lot lately-Simply in Season.

I read an awesome book a few months ago that has really helped change the way I look at food and what my husband and I eat. It was called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. Her family grew, gathered, harvested, raised most of the food that they ate for a whole year. What they couldn't grow, they searched for local sources to provide such as meat and milk, etc. There are many really excellent points that the author brings up about the benefits of supporting your local food system as much as you can. Even though I don't buy all organic food, I try to buy humanely raised meat, eggs, and dairy versus the cheapest I can find. There really are many more benefits to free-range, pasture raised meat and dairy and not supporting the commercial farms is one way to help improve our environment and decrease pollution. Anyway...I'll get off my soapbox about that, but I really do encourage people to learn more about where their food comes from-support local sources as much as you can and read the above book-it really is eye opening.

This recipe comes from the above book. I had to figure out a way to use up the beans from my garden and since my husband doesn't like them, I try to figure out ways to sneak them in so he can't really tell they're there. This was a delicous spread. I was a little hesitant to try it, but it turned out great. Very filling!

Frijole-Mole
1/2 lb. trimmed green beans
1 coarsely chopped onion
1 T olive oil
3 hard boiled eggs
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 T lemon juice (optional)
Mayo or yogurt
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional- I didn't add, but I wish I would have. We like spicier food and I will add this next time)

Steam beans until tender. Sautee onions in olive oil over medium heat until they become slightly transparent. Combine beans, cooked onions, eggs, basil and lemon juice in food processor and blend into a coarse puree. Remove puree to a bowl and combine with enough mayo or yogurt to hold together (you don't need much, about 1/4 cup). Add salt and pepper to taste. This spread is fantastic served on crusty bread, crackers, or rice cakes. We used tortilla chips to scoop it up.