Yummus: The Tahini-Less Hummus Recipe

As you can tell from my odd spinach concoction, I loooooove dip.(Who doesn't?) And I love using white beans in dip because they make it creamy without bothering my tummy (I have lactose issues) or adding all those extra calories.

I went a little white bean dip-crazy this weekend and made two slightly different ones for us to snack on: one regular old hummus, and one cannellini bean dip. Yummy!

First, the hummus (which I am nicknaming "Yummus"). One issue with making hummus is the tahini. Most people don't keep tahini stocked up, therefore the impromptu hummus seems out of the question. However. if you don't have any, peanut butter is a reasonable substitute. Really!

This stuff is also pretty healthy, unless you like olive oil as much as I do. Check it out:

Yummus AKA Hummus Ingredients:

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 2-3 tbsp peanut butter (or tahini, for you fancy traditional types)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (most hummuses do more, but that makes it less yummus-y)
• A smidgen (yep, I'm exact) of black pepper
• A healthy sprinkling of sea salt
• About 1/3 cup of olive oil

Super-Complicated Instructions:

1. Throw all that stuff up there in the blender except the olive oil. 
2. Drizzle in the olive oil as you blend. You can add a little more to thin it out as necessary - make it just creamy enough that it slides if you turn the pitcher sideways. 
3. Take it out and put it in an ultra-chic container like my tupperware.
4. Make a little mashed-potato-volcano hollow on top with a spoon and pour some more olive oil in it, 'cause we like calories. 
5. Sprinkle some crushed red pepper on top (unless the kid who doesn't like spicy stuff is eating it. Then tell them to call the waaaambulance and do it anyway). 

For some reason, the blender pictures remind me of some kind of space vortex hole thing where chickpeas go to die. Like a galactic Bermuda Triangle for Mediterranean food. Make sense? No? 'Kay.

That's that ultra-chic hummus container we talked about. 

Here it is in all its Tupperware glory:

Hey, you only have to look at this food. I have to store it. And garbanzo beans cost money. When you're paying the grocery bills in this house young man, you can waste ALL the hummus you want. 

I also made my fantabulous homemade tortilla chips that went with my dinosaur-vomit spinach dip. These were DELICIOUS with the hummus - to the point that we were fighting over them. I should have made 3 trays' worth instead of one. 

What makes your favorite hummus a yummus? Why?