Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

The crazy things we make with beans

posted by lizzie    « 9 Comments »    tied to Uncategorized   

I promise, this will be the last food post for a while because you are all probably getting tired of hearing how excited I am about this silly cookbook and you want to hear about cool things, like how Micah saw a huge stingray (and squirrel fish, and scorpion fish, and a pod of dolphins) when he went scuba diving this weekend. But please, indulge me just once more.

I tell you, this new cookbook has opened up all sorts of new doors for me. I’m cooking with beans and trying all sorts of things I would never think of before. Like hummus, for instance. I have eaten hummus before I got this book. Micah and I have bought a tub or two from Foodland to put on bread as a sort of quick-and-easy meal. But I was never overly impressed with the stuff. This may be because my introduction to hummus was during my mother’s vegan phase, so I associate the garbanzo bean puree with all of the foods I refused to eat because I didn’t believe in veganism. As I was flipping through the cookbook, however, I found a recipe for hummus and in the introduction to the recipe they said that the tubs of hummus you can buy at the store really aren’t any good. Since I now have the perfect recipe for hummus, and I have made it a goal to cook with beans, it was only a matter of hours before we were at Foodland gathering the necessary ingredients. And this is the part where I confess my sins: there was no tahini at Foodland (we honestly didn’t really know what it was), but after consulting The Internet we discovered that some people find peanut butter an acceptable substitute. So, no our hummus is not as authentic as it will be one day when we have access to tahini, but it certainly is delicious! We’ve made it twice now (once to be taken with some pita chips to a baby shower, where it was a hit), and I think it may just become a staple in the Heiselt home.

Comments

  1. Missy says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:33 pm

    Oh yeah, baby. Hummus rocks. I’ve also found that when you cook your own dry garbanzos they have a much nuttier flavor, which is great in Hummus. I would highly recommend finding some Tahini. It’s totally worth it, and I can’t imagine there not being an ethnic foods store in Hawaii without it. Check in the Indian section.

  2. Missy says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Or rather, “I can’t imagine there being an ethnic foods store in Hawaii that doesn’t have it.”

    Sesame paste is also used in Japanese and other East-Asian cooking; the Japanese term for it is neri-goma.

  3. elizabeth says:
    February 28, 2007 at 10:12 pm

    We were really surprised that they didn’t have it because they do have quite a selection of ethnic–or maybe just Asian–food. I’m sure we will find it somewhere, but Laie is not that place. I am looking forward to when we do. Who knew hummus could be so good?

    I’m still working up the courage to buy dry beans, but one of these days I’ve got to do it!

  4. Missy says:
    March 3, 2007 at 9:27 pm

    Maybe wait until you’re on the mainland & you’ve got a pressure-cooker. 20 minutes vs. 2 hours. Makes a big difference!

  5. kareena says:
    March 3, 2007 at 11:04 pm

    Hey Elizabeth! So I know this might be a dumb question…but what do you eat hummus with? I know you ate it with pita chips…but what else would you eat it with?

  6. elizabeth says:
    March 4, 2007 at 12:28 am

    We do happen to have a pressure cooker on the mainland–a wedding gift we didn’t think was worth shipping over, but we are really excited about using now.

    I think hummus is mostly served with flatbread, like pita, although it is also used as a topping for things like falafel, grilled chicken, and salad. I only know this because I looked on Wikipedia. :)

  7. Jodie says:
    March 4, 2007 at 3:05 am

    my family eats it with practically anything–but mostly with tortillas or raw vegetables (like a dip).

  8. Heather says:
    March 7, 2007 at 12:14 am

    care to share the recipe?

  9. elizabeth says:
    March 7, 2007 at 10:57 pm

    No problem:

    Delicious Hummus

    1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
    1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press
    3/4 tsp. salt
    pinch cayenne pepper
    3 tablespoons juice from 1 large lemon
    1/4 cup tahini
    1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    1/4 cup water

    Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 40 seconds. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes.

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