Hummus & Veggies

There haven’t been many bean-inspired dishes in my life until recently. I’ve been making the basic dishes that you may know, using black beans and lentils for soups and salads, but I steered clear of garbanzo beans until my younger son developed a liking for hummus.  Which lead me to make my own, of course.

I make hummus with soaked cashews because I have a slight problem with garbanzo beans, but you can easily substitute them for another soaked nut, like walnut or brazil. If you use chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soak them in water for at least 8 hours and then boil them in salt until they are no longer coarse and grainy. An even easier trick is to just buy a can of chickpeas that are already cooked.

Note If you’re following SCD, use cashews or another nut because garbanzo beans are not allowed.

Now for the extras. Hummus tastes great with dipping-type foods. I like to dip crunchy vegetables in hummus. Olives, pickled onions, and crackers are good too. Another good thing – you can store hummus in the refrigerator for quite a while. I store it for up to a week and it stays fresh. It does firm up in the cold storage, so take it out about 10 minutes ahead of time to warm up to room temperature.

Other hummus recipes you might enjoy:

• Hummus with Green Goo
• Raw Cashew Hummus
• Hummus En Fuego Recipe