#header-inner {background-position: center !important; width: 100% !important;}

Monday, August 22, 2011

Lemon Basil Hummus

Pin It
I went searching for a basil hummus recipe because I was once again looking for a new way to use up our abundance of basil (seriously...STL friends, let me know if you want some!). Though I've made hummus from scratch a few times before (Black Bean, Edamame, and Garlic & Sun-dried Tomato varieties), we still tend to purchase it more than make it. After whipping up this lemon basil hummus though, I might be making it more often!

This literally takes all of five minutes to make and I loved how fresh it tasted, I'm guessing due to the large amounts of basil. I added twice as much as the original recipe (my version below) as well as extra lemon juice because Ryan thought it was too bland at first. With the additions and some time to sit in the fridge, the end product was much better than I'd anticipated. It's perfectly creamy despite the minimal oil (reserve extra chickpea liquid from the can so you can add enough to get to your desired texture) and was great as a sandwich spread, dip for vegetables and crackers, or smeared on a hunk of bread, as you see in the picture above :)

Between this hummus and the Strawberry Basil sorbet, I suppose I know what to do each time my herb gets out of control!

By the way, thank you for all of the birthday wishes yesterday! I've had a lot of fun birthday celebrations in years past but none that can even compare to the amazing weekend I had. I think it's safe to say my twenty-fifth birthday will go down in history, at least my history ;) I was anticipating a fun weekend full of cocktails with friends, an 80s themed birthday party for Ryan and I, thrown by my sister, and a crazy bike race...what I wasn't expecting was the rest of my family (+ best friend from high school) to surprise me and show up at the party. I'm seriously still reeling in shock and happiness because if I had one wish for my birthday this year, that was it. Well done, family. You guys are the best. And since that apparently wasn't enough surprise for one weekend, Ryan then gifted me with tickets for us to head out east to Connecticut this October to visit my friend Paige. Tears were shed, I did NOT see that one coming!

So as you can see, amazing birthday weekend with my most wonderful friends and family. I am blessed, no doubt about that! Thanks for listening to me gush a bit...now it's back to the real world as I headed out to Canada on a jet plane at 6:00 this morning for work. Regular recipes to continue this week, I just might be a little delayed to responding to any comments or emails!


Lemon Basil Hummus
adapted from Pepperidge Farm

Ingredients:
-1 can chickpeas
-1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
-1 clove garlic, peeled
-juice from 1 lemon
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/4 tsp ground black pepper
-1 tsp soy sauce

Directions:
1. Drain the chickpeas, reserving 1/4 cup liquid. Rinse the chickpeas with cold water and drain in a colander.
2. Add chickpeas, 1-2 tbsp reserved liquid, basil, garlic, lemon juice, oil, black pepper, and soy sauce to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is smooth and creamy, adding additional reserved liquid if needed.