Beans & Spanish rice were my favorite part of eating at a Mexican restaurant (other than the cheese.. mm..) I would joke that I could live off of rice and beans all day. And now, I basically do.
I thought I'd talk a bit about beans & hummus here, and how EASY hummus is to make. You have to splurge on the Tahina / Tahini to make hummus, but I bought a pretty decent size bottle at my HEB for about $5. You can make Hummus tons of times after that, while if you bought hummus at a store once it would be around $5.
First things first, I try to no longer used canned beans. Beth over at Budget Bytes has a great article on "kicking the can.." but I must say that I now make almost all my beans at home, in the crock pot. It's such a better value. A bag of black beasns (1lb) is about .99 cents, and it makes enough for me to freeze. (I usually use 2lbs if I can..) Which is at least two cans of beans.
So easy. To make home made beans in the crock pot (I've done this with Black beans, garbanzo beans/chickpeas, and navy beans. all a success.. ) follow these easy peasy steps. Of course, this can be done in a pot on the stove as well, but I love the "forget about me" aspect of a crock pot.
Dump out your beans on a cookie sheet or flat surface. Sort through them, tossing any broken or bad beans and rocks. (I've only ever found maybe one or two rocks in my time.. but worth the extra step.)
Rinse the beans well in a colander. Get rid of all that dirt & yuck! I don't soak my beans unless they are pinto, personally.
Dump them in your crock pot, and pour in enough water to where there is about two inches of water above the beans. Cook on low 6-7 hours or high 4-5 hours. If you are planning on leaving these to cook while you head to work, give yourself plenty of water in the crock pot for them to soak up, maybe an extra cup or two. You can always get rid of it later, so it's better to use more water than you think you need. I don't add anything else, but you could add salt if you like.
And that's it! I didn't take an after pic, but let the beans cool, then sort them into tupperware and leave some liquid in the tupperware with them. (For example, like a can of beans has liquid.) I freeze a big batch and then portion them out into dinner sized portions. Viola! No preservatives, no BPA from the can (eew..) and no crap in your food. Plus, you made them!
So now, let's talk about Hummus. I. love. hummus. And honestly, my new favorite hummus is white bean hummus. Hummus is basically bean dip, when you think about it. So you can make it with any kind of bean. I usually make it with whatever beans I have left over, and white beans are my new favorite.
I like to add hot sauce. I used Frank's Red Hot that I had left over, and wasn't all that thrilled. I prefer my signature Tapatio, or Valentina. Beth likes Siracha. Hummus is so customizable! It's great :)
So here's the skinny. My favorite white bean hummus recipe:
1 cup cooked white (or navy) beans (you can use almost any bean on hand.)
2 tbs tahini
Fresh squeezed 1/2 lemon
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Handfull of parsely (optional, but I LOVE the flavor it gave this batch. Fresh parsley is fairly cheap)
Generous amount of hot sauce (I probably used 1/2 tbs or so.) Taste as you go!
Paprika, for garnish
Throw everything into the food processor, and pulse 4-5 times until it is the consistency you like. Taste, and add salt or hot sauce until hummus is the consistency you like. Sprinkle paprika and/or olive oil on top, if desired.
I keep this in the fridge for a week to two weeks, and snack on it with everything!
I am on a Buffalo kick right now, and so I like to eat my hummus with these yummy buffalo wing pretzel crips. Pita chips are delish as well. I hope you get the chance to make some delicious hummus of your own! And experiment until you find your own liking.
Xoxo,
Ash
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