The challenge: to cook all 115 recipes from the first Thug Kitchen cookbook, (which is quickly becoming my all time favourite cookbook) within a year. We are now 95 recipes down, with just 20 recipes to go.

I have to admit, I’ve been avoiding making this recipe: cumin spiked pinto bean dip.

That’s because I’ve had a cumin dip incident in the not too distant past, that still taints my taste buds to this very day. I was desperate for dip, and I’d decided to make the creamy black bean and cilantro dip, but I didn’t have any fresh cilantro, so thought I’d just substitute with the dried herb. What I did in my crazy rush to dip, was that I grabbed the wrong spice jar and threw in a heap of cumin instead! It did not taste good. But I’d been so psyched for dip, and we were in a remote cabin in the woods so I couldn’t just pop out to the store to get new ingredients…So I ate more of the dip than I probably should have before deciding that it really was quite foul. Did I mention that there was A LOT of cumin in there?

As a result, when I think of bean dips with cumin, I think ‘No Thanks’, And then I try not to gag. So I’d put off making this recipe for a while. But now that I’ve made it, I’m relieved to be back on the cumin dip horse, because this equestrian high stepper knows his business. He’s hot to trot.

This dip is healthy, full of protein and 100% guilt free. (What you dip in it is a different story perhaps) I thought it was an interesting twist to fry the onion first, it gave the dip a more subtle flavour than if the onion had just been full-on raw. There’s a time and a place for that shit, and the Thugs know it. They got the balance just right. Also despite the sheer amount of cumin in there (says the fearful cumin eater) the cumin tones were subtle and the whole dip was well-rounded, full-bodied, with hints of lime and cayenne. Very delicious.

I am now officially over my fear of cumin dips.

I am still not over my fear of horses, and those motherfuckers know it. They can sense my fear, like a psychic can sense your dead aunt Matilda. But that’s a whole other story.