Raw Smoky Mole

I was excited when I learned that my college daughter Alli was bringing home her roomate for Thanksgiving. Francesca was from sunny California and preferred a fruitatarian lifestyle. However, that was a difficult diet to keep up in the northern region of the Great Lakes.

Alli called to tell me that vegetarian fare was fine. I had my doubts. Sometimes we omnivores overlook important subtlties in other eating lifestyles, and since I cook with artisan butter and cream from a local grass-fed dairy I figured I needed to call Francesca directly. My hunch was right--Francesca preferred vegan. That meant no dairy.

Knowing that she preferred fresh fruit I made sure to have pomagranites, clementines and other early-season citris on hand. I then asked my friend Oona who is a raw foodist for some complimentary recipes to my Thanksgiving menu. She blessed us with Smoky Mole, a recipe she brought back from a visit to California. Perfect!

I have often heard people grumble when they have a guest with food restrictions or different lifesyles, but I embraced the challenge of preparing vegan food while maintaining my own preferences for local and seasonal food. Smoky Mole brought us together.

Just last week Francesca sent me a heart-felt e-mail thanking me for welcoming her differences and making her feel at home. She also told me that after her introduction to raw recipes she researched it more and went 100% raw as of Christmas. She also called me an "amazing cook" which is a wonderful compliment coming from a vegan to an omnivore.

Here is our raw recipe for Smoky Mole:

• 2 dozen sun dried tomatoes, soaked in 2 C water
• 2 chipotle chiles, soaked in ¼ C water

Drain tomatoes and chiles, reserving the water from each separately. Place all ingredients in blender. Add 1 cup of reserved liquid to blender and start by pulsing. Increase speed gradually, scraping down sides as necessary. You may need to add more liquid, enough so that the blender is able to pull ingredients from the top to thebottom. Stop blending when smooth texture is achieved.