White Bean Hummus

By Lynxa

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked cannellini (white kidney) beans (drained and rinsed if using canned beans)
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 small to medium clove garlic, sliced
• 1 – 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (see note)
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (see note)
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 1/2 - 3 tsp fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn or roughly chopped
• 1-2 tbsp water (may not need, just to thin dip as desired)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Details

Servings 3
Adapted from viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except water, thyme, and basil. Purée until smooth, gradually adding water as desired to thin dip and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add thyme and basil and purée briefly to incorporate ingredients.

Notes:

1) This dip tastes lovely even with just 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. For a richer flavor, use 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, or more if you like.

2) I have used a raspberry-flavored red wine vinegar in place of the lemon juice in this dip, and it adds a beautiful flavor.

3) You can make this dip look very elegant. As described in the chapter introduction, pipe the dip into mini-bell peppers (cut in half), halved grape tomatoes, or endive leaves. Alternatively, spread it thinly on slices of bread with a layer of “shaved” cucumber (using a vegetable peeler to remove thin strips lengthwise off cucumber, before reaching the seedy portion). Cut crusts off bread and slice in strips or cut in shapes with cookie cutters.

a few ideas that might interest you...
if you want to make more of a main course with the hummus, consider tucking it with a whole grain inside a w/w tortilla, rolled up as a wrap and then bake for a version of a burrito. You can add veggies or something like pine nuts or olives for added flavor. Or, stuff the hummmus in large pasta shells, or something like manicotti. Cover with your fave tomato/marinara sauce, and bake! Or, pair with roasted potatoes along with a whole-grain on the side, or... one of my favorite things to do with hummus is to use it as a base on a pizza shell. Makes a very substantial, tasty pizza, and you can play with the toppings as you like - also, tortilla shells pre-baked and then topped with the hummus/toppings are fun, fast, and tasty!