People “drop by” our home quite a bit. This isn’t necessarily an invitation to you, although if you want to stop in for a visit, you are of course welcome to it. We (and by we, I’m mostly implying me) are the kind of people who always like to have something going on. If there’s nothing planned for a given day or evening, it’s kind of a bummer. When that happens, I generally go through the cell phone and call family, friends, or strangers and see if they want to come over for dinner. I love to cook, and the more the merrier. My husband loves to do dishes. OK, “loves” may be a bit too strong of a word to use there.
When I am fortunate enough to have dinner guests, it will inevitably take me longer to cook the meal than I anticipated. I’m sure this has never happened to you, but if you tend to host dinner parties, you may like my favorite go-to appetizer recipe. It helps stave off the hungry masses, and buys me precious time to finish whatever I’m cooking.
Spicy Black Bean Hummus
* The beauty of this recipe is it’s SUPER easy to make, and it can be very easily adapted to whatever you have on hand. Switch out the black beans for garbanzo/chickpeas or cannelini beans. Use jalapenos instead of chipotle peppers in adobe. Not a spicy fan? Leave out the peppers and use fresh cilantro, rosemary or your favorite herb instead.
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini (roasted sesame seed paste) – this is one of the more important components. You can find it in the peanut butter aisle of the Teeter.
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 small pepper and a teaspoon of sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo (adjust amount to suit your preference for heat)
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Dash of ground red pepper (optional)
- Pita chips, or whatever you have on hand to dip: pretzels, tortilla chips, carrot/cucumber/celery sticks, your finger…
1. Place garlic in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt, black beans, and chipotle pepper and adobo sauce; process until smooth. Spoon bean mixture into a medium bowl, and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with ground red pepper. Serve with pita chips.This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light Magazine.
And it’s delicious. I think I’m stopping by this weekend