Black Bean Hummus

Before we get started, I have to share with you my sister's food blog. She makes pretty yummy stuff, so take a look! Maybe it's a good thing we're on opposite sides of the world from each other. If I were home, we would most likely be making 5 course meals every single day, and I would be wobbling instead of walking down the street.

Now, back to the business of hummus. I love hummus. I adore it. I'm obsessed with it. I could marry it and have little hummus babies. I used to get the Roasted Garlic Hummus from Trader Joe's once a week, and finish it off within days. Having a Trader Joe's within walking distance of me was dangerous. I could write a whole blog entry on how much I love Trader Joe's and the wonderful, amazing things you could get from there.

Black bean hummus is a refreshing change from the familiar hummus made with chickpeas. The black beans give it a smokey, more complex taste, and the spices I used really brought out the flavor in the beans.  You can use it in sandwiches, dip veggies in it, or eat it by the spoonful. My husband's face fills with childlike excitement whenever I tell him I'm making my black bean hummus. He could eat the entire batch in one sitting. And to be honest, so could I.

Black Bean Hummus
Loosely adapted from the recipe found on Life's Ambrosia


What you'll need:

• 1 can of black beans, drained (the can I used was 15 oz)
• 6 cloves of roasted garlic (use less if you're not a big garlic fan. I love garlic, so I went a bit garlic-crazy.)
• 1/2 Tbsp tsp paprika
• 1/2 Tbsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili / cayenne powder 
• 1/4 tsp rosemary
• 1/4 tsp tumeric (optional)
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp tahini (see below for my own version of homemade tahini)
• The juice of half a lime or lemon
• A couple stalks of fresh cilantro (I love cilantro, so I used 5.)

Directions:

For the Tahini:

Tahini is just a paste made from sesame seeds and oil. Here's my quick and lazy version: Toast some sesame seeds in the oven at 350F or 176C for a few minutes, until they're fragrant but not browned. I like to toast them until they're only very slightly brown, a very light tan. You could toast them on a pan, too. Then toss them in a blender / food processor / Magic Bullet with some olive oil until they're the right consistency, like runny peanut butter. I always eyeball the amounts. Depending on how many sesame seeds you start with, the ratio of sesame seeds to olive oil should be about 5:1. Start off with a little oil, then gradually add more until you get it to the right consistency.

For the hummus:

Throw everything in your blender / food processor / Magic Bullet and process that baby. Boom. You're done.

If you like your hummus a bit creamier, add more olive oil or lime / lemon juice when you're blending it. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

It's so good, you'll want to lick off the remaining hummus off the blades. Try not to cut your tongue (not that I know that from experience or anything ... ).

I'm trying to be more diligent in updating regularly. I have a bit more time now that we're done moving into our new place - which is right next to a big US pharmaceutical company, by the way. Perfect. I'll be sending my resume their way soon. Our place is very nice, and right across from the river and mountains. Beautiful view. Unfortunately, I don't get enough bright lighting in our new place to take decent food photos (as you can see from this photo), so I'm going to have to get creative with some lighting ideas.