Silky Smooth Hummus with Edemame

This weekend, my high school friend from Ohio came with her daughter to visit, so I whipped up some appetizers, including hummus, pureed fava beans with mint, and Greek yogurt with walnuts.   I served them with edemame for a perfect snack.

Middle Eastern Dips with Edamame

Tips for Making Silky Smooth Hummus:

For extra flavor and nutrition, make your hummus with chickpeas that are soaked over night.  Don’t just used the ingredient directly from a can.  Here are some other  tips for making a silky smooth hummus:
1.  Cook your chickpeas in a pressure cooker for perfect flavor and consistency, You also save time and minimize your use of energy.
3.  When pureeing the ingredients together, add cooking water slowly until you get a perfectly smooth texture.

Ingredients for Hummus:

1 cup dried chickpeas
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup tahini 
1 lemon, squeezed
2 cloves garlic
1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
parsley, chopped
kalamata olives
hot chili powder
salt

Directions for Hummus:

1.  Wash chickpeas then soak overnight.

2.  Cook in pressure cooker for 12 minutes then let sit for 30 minutes in unopened cooker.

3.  Drain chickpeas. Save the water.

4.  Empty drained chickpeas into a large bowl,  add 1/2 cup of the chickpea's water, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, baking powder, parsley,  a handful of kalamata olives salt and chili powder to taste.

5.  Blend with hand blender, while slowly adding chickpea water until mixture has a smooth consistency.  

5.  Serve on a plate or bowl.
6.  Garnish with olive oil, parsley and/or sliced olives.

Rice and Beans with Kale, Parsley and Olives

1.  Rice and Beans 2.  Kale, Parsley, and Olives

One of the staple foods Spanish-Caribbean cuisine is rice and beans.   Red, black, pinto and garbanzo beans are sold in every corner market in my uptown neighborhood.  Beans are healthy and make a great side dish or can be a meal in itself.

Today, I am going to prep some red beans and brown rice for a healthy, tasty, low cost meal.  I prefer using dried beans because they are more flavorful and lack the chemicals that you find in the canned.  To prep them just soak them overnight.  A pressure cooker is a very efficient way to cook beans but a pot with a lid will do.

 Preparing Beans:

1.    Clean, Rinse and Soak 1 cup of beans over night in cold water.  Rinse again.

1.  Brown Rice Blend 2.  Kale and Red Beans

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice

1 cup beans

2 cups liquid from beans plus added water

1 cup beans

Juice of one lime
5 leaves of chopped kale or other deep leafy green, chopped
! /4 cup Spanish olives, diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tbsp of Salt
1 chili pepper, very finely chopped
1 onion, finally chopped
3 cloves garlic, finally chopped

 

Cooking Your Beans in a Pressure Cooker:

1.  In a pressure cooker, combine 1 part beans to 3 parts water,

2.  Cook on high heat until you hear the whistle, then turn heat to low and cook for 13 minutes

3.  Turn heat off and let beans sit in covered pressure cooker for around 15  minutes.

4.  Finally, take off the lid. The beans should get soft but not loose their shape.

Combine All ingredients together:

  1.  Wash brown rice, rinse and strain.

  2.  Saute your onions, garlic, chili and cumin.

   3.   Place in large pot with beans and their water.  Add cold water so rice and beans are    covered in 2 inches of water.

  4.  Stir in beans and their liquid. (there should be 2 cup liquid in pot}.

  5.  Add kale, parsley olives the sauteed onions, garlic, cumin and chili pepper, salt and lime juice to rice and beans.

  6.  Cover pot and cook until the rice has absorbed all the liquid (around 40 minutes).

  7.  Let rice and beans mixture sit covered for 10 minutes or so.

  8,  Serve.