Seven Layer Dip

I love layer dip. Its delicious. So when my friends decided to have a Holiday potluck this past December I decided to make my own layer dip. The layer dip consists of refried beans, fresh salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese and olives on top. This is easy to make and delcious. To make the refried beans, take two cans of red kidney beans or black beans, it does not matter. Just do not use white beans, it would come out as well. In a pan saute diced onions, garlic, bell peppers, and jalapenos in oil or butter. If you want to make it a little different render some bacon and cook the aromatics in the bacon fat. Cook the aromatics for about two minutes. Then add oregano and saute for another minute. After this add the drained beans and cook for another minute. My secret ingredient is beer. Add a bottle of beer, I used Sam Adams Boston Lager, and cook the beans till tender. When this is done, take a potato masher and mash the beans into a puree. Add fresh diced tomatoes and you are done with the re-fried beans.

Next is the salsa. This is very simple and if you can not do this then there is no hope for you in cooking. Take a couple of tomatoes and dice them. Next take a green bell pepper and dice that as well as a jalapeno if you like your salsa spicy. Then dice an onion and add to the tomatoes and peppers. Finish the dish with fresh lime juice, a little bit of olive oil, and freshly chopped cilantro. This recipe is also called salsa fresca (fresh salsa) or salsa bandera, as it has the colors of the Mexican flag.

Add a layer of sour cream on top of the salsa and re-fried beans. Then layer the guacamole on top of the sour cream. To make the guacamole take a couple of ripe avocados and mash them up with a potato masher or a fork with minced onion, tomatoes, jalapenos, lime juice, and chopped cilantro. After this is done spread shredded cheese and olives on top and there you have it, delicious layer dip.

I know some people do not like the taste of cilantro, and that is fine. If you omit the cilantro however, you will not get the authentic taste of the dish. Use a casserole dish by the way to make the dip, it works the best.