Vegetables with three versions of Aioli: Avocado Aioli, Cumin Aioli and the traditional Provencal Aioli.

Yesterday I went to our local market. I bought some beautiful Avocados and Haricots Verts. This morning I was researching recipes using avocados. We love traditional Provencal Aioli. We serve it  with steamed Asparagus and Hard Boiled Eggs that we learned to prepare while staying with our friends in the South of France. It's not a complicated recipe, but it's delicious. I'm posting two contemporary versions of Aioli. Both can be served with my list of fresh or steamed vegetables and hard boiled eggs.

Serve either Aioli with the following vegetables.
You can also use make a traditional Provencal Aioli, recipe included at the end.
The vegetables can be steamed or served fresh.

Small Carrots, cut to 1" pieces
French Green Beans (Haricots Verts)
Sugar Snap Peas
Red New Potatoes
Small Beets

Hard Boiled Eggs

Avocado Aioli:
2 ripe avocados
2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large clove of garlic, minced
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C fresh chopped cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 Hard Boiled Eggs (halved lengthwise)

Halve the avocados, scoop out the flesh.
In a bowl, mash the following ingredients together:
Avocado
Lime Juice
Garlic

Transfer to a food processor and puree
With the machine running, drizzle with oil.
Transfer to a serving bowl.
Fold in cilantro.
Season wit salt and pepper.
Refrigerate 2 hours.

Cumin Aioli:
1 TBS cumin seeds
1 large egg
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 C vegetable oil
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

In a small dry skillet, saute cumin seeds on medium heat for 2 minutes, shaking the pan.
Remove from heat
Grind seeds in a mortar and pestle

In a food processor:
egg
mustard
salt
garlic
ground cumin seeds

Process briefly to blend.

With the processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until the aioli is emulsified.
It it appears too thick, add a bit of water.
Transfer to a bowl and fold in whole cumin seeds.
Cover and refrigerate 2 hours.
Serve with fresh or steamed vegetables listed above.


Traditional Provencal Aioli:
3 large cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 C extra virgin oil

Crush the garlic and sea salt using a mortar and pestle, create a paste.
Add the egg yolk
Whisk by hand and slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
The aioli will begin to thicken.
This recipe can easily be doubled and it can also be prepared in a food processor. The taste and texture is actually better when made by hand. I prefer to make it by hand using the traditional mortar and pestle method.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!