The first time Nate and I tasted mole sauce was at a Mexican restaurant in Arlington, MA when we were in college. My roommate and best college friend Estela was from Juárez and was always educating me on what good Mexican food was. One such dish was mole, which she described as a savory “chocolate” sauce served over chicken. When Nate and I spotted it on the menu that night so long ago we knew we had to try it, and we loved it. Sadly, we’ve hardly eaten mole since then. It’s not a dish you generally find served in Mexican restaurants in the U.S. and we had no idea how to make it…until now! (If you live in the Bay Area, Lulu’s serves both green and red mole and they are both divine.)

I finally sat down to figure out how to make a red mole sauce on my own and it turned out so so so good. This recipe is great for about a million reasons, but I’ll just share a few. It’s a crockpot recipe, making it very hands off. You just blend most of the ingredients together, dump it over chicken in the crockpot and let it cook. Easy peasy! Traditional mole sauces can take days to prepare, but the crockpot actually helps speed up the process. (That’s probably the first time a crockpot meal has been described as speedy!) This red mole sauce is quite rich and full of flavor, but not too spicy, so kids can enjoy it, too. However, you can definitely add cayenne pepper for more heat. Heat is good. And the richness from the unsweetened chocolate counterbalances the heat of the peppers beautifully. Lastly, this recipe for chicken mole rojo is healthy! I originally developed it for Disney and had to follow strict dietary guidelines, all of which I met in this recipe.

And, if you have kids, just tell them they are eating mud and they will eat every bite of their dinner. It’s like magic.

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Happy Friday!

Just a few Babbles to share!

• I am so happy this post with my recipe for chicken mole finally published over on Babble – I’m really proud of it! We call it Timon and Pumbaa’s Mud Chicken for fun. The mole is deeeelicious, easy to throw together (uses the crock pot) and healthy. And it’s not too hot, so kids can eat it too.
• Zazu’s Tropical Fruit Salad, with a really tasty light dressing
• If you want to order dessert for Thanksgiving, here is a list of gourmet retailers with some delicious looking items! And you still have time to order from most of them for Thanksgiving!

That’s all I’ve got. I’m furiously trying to get everything ready for our house guests and to kick off a week of FUN!

As always, please share whatever you like!