Store bought hummus may be tasty but homemade is so much better. And it hardly takes any time to prepare.
I try to make a big batch of bean puree (whether hummus, white bean, black bean or lima bean dip) on the weekend and snack on it all throughout the week. And beans are one the few vegetables June eats like wild fire so I like to pack some in her lunch along with some chopped veggies.
There are a million and one recipes for bean puree, whether hummus, lima bean whip, black bean mash, white bean dip, but the basic ingredients for all are the same: beans (duh!), salt, garlic and fresh lemon juice. You can add all sorts of other stuff, swap the beans, throw in some tahini, play with herbs, add more spice, but those four basic components have gotta be there.
Here’s how I make my basic bean puree:
Add 2 cups rinsed and strained canned beans (doesn’t matter what kind — chick peas, white beans, limas), 2 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cumin and the juice of 1 lemon (I like my puree really lemon-y but the juice of 1/2 lemon is fine too) to a food processor. Add 1/4 cup good quality olive oil, a handful of fresh herbs — mint, parsley, basil — and process until smooth. Stop the machine to scrape down the sides. If the consistency isn’t yet silky smooth, add a little water or more olive oil and process again.
To gussy it up even more, add 1 teaspoon dried herbs (cumin, coriander, paprika, etc), a bit of chopped onion or hot pepper to the mix and process.
For HUMMUS (use chick peas), add 1/2 cup tahini, a handful of Italian parsley, and a dash of paprika to the mix.
For BLACK BEAN PUREE, swap out the lemon juice for lime, and add some red onion and jalapenos.
Couldn’t be easier. And you can literally come up with hundreds of combinations using those four components — beans, salt, garlic, citrus — as the base. The only complicated thing about bean puree is cleaning the food processor, but you can probably guilt your spouse into doing that.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you! Thank you! My husband just harvested and dried, and the family just shelled a whole bunch of beans and I was wondering what to do with them! This is great! Thank you!
Let me know how it turns out, Janelle!
yum!
I’ve discovered I like a few lumps in my homemade hummus. Kinda like with mashed potatoes – aside from it being a sensory treat, it reminds you it’s homemade.
You make it sound so simple…and yet I’ve only made hummus twice since getting my VitaMix four months ago. =)
I’ve never heard of a VitaMix. What is it?
We love bean puree, and I was always making my hummus with Tahini. Then I used the recipe in the Vitamix, and it called for sesame seeds and no tahini. I love it so much more! I may try that black bean with some of the jalepenos still on the vine.