LAYER 1

Add the beans with liquid to a large, wide frying pan. No oil is needed to make these healthy and super tasty “refried beans”! Over medium heat, start smashing the beans with a potato-smashing tool. It’s fine to leave some of the beans only partially smashed. This will give your beans a lovely texture. Add sea salt, garlic powder and onion powder to taste. Continually stir the beans as the liquid evaporates. Within 25-30 minutes your beans should be at the perfect spreadable consistency – not watery and not dry. Remove the pan from heat and allow the beans to cool down to room temperature. Spread the beans in an even layer on the bottom of a clear-glass serving bowl, and at the bottom of several individualized serving dishes or clear-plastic 9-ounce drink cups.

LAYER 2

Prepare the guacamole according to my authentic Mexican guacamole recipe found within this post. Or you can use store-bought guacamole instead. Layer the guacamole over the room-temperature refried beans. This layer should be the same thickness as the layer of black beans.

LAYER 3

Layer sour cream over the guacamole. This layer should be the same thickness as the black bean layer and the guacamole layer.

LAYER 4

Layer the shredded cheddar cheese over the sour cream. This layer can be either 1/2 or 1/3 the thickness of the other three layers.

LAYER 5

Spread shredded Romaine lettuce over the cheese. The thickness of this layer should be the same as the cheddar cheese layer.

LAYER 6

For the pico de gallo, slice each grape tomato into 8-12 small squares. Add the tomatoes to a small mixing bowl. Add in chopped red onion, a bit of chopped cilantro leaves, salt and pepper to taste, and a gentle sprinkling of garlic powder. With a spatula, gently fold these ingredients together. Drizzle the mixture with olive oil and mix again. Use a tortilla chip to taste the pico de gallo to see if it needs a bit more seasoning or if it’s absolutely perfect. Spoon the pico de gallo over the bed of lettuce. The thickness of this layer is just slightly less than the first three layers.

LAYER 7

Sprinkle sliced black olives and a few slices of fresh jalapeno over the top of the top of the pico de gallo. Your fabulous 7 layer dip is ready to be served. Each individual-sized serving cup can be garnished with a single tortilla chip. So darn festive!