I have a confession.

Despite my love of from-scratch cooking, I have a bit of an obsession with Trader Joe’s tri-layer hummus. (Turns out, I’m not alone. At all.) There’s something about that cilantro layer that just does me in. So when I realized that we had some fresh cilantro that needed to be used, I decided to whip up some hummus. This was truly a “kitchen surprise” recipe, as I had not planned to make this until about 5 minutes before I started. Since the chickpeas in the pantry are reserved for tonight’s simplest bean burgers, I was left with black beans. I also happened to have a lime in the fridge, which is a perfect mate for cilantro and black beans. Here’s how it went down:

Black Bean Cilantro Hummus

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1/4 medium onion, chopped
• about 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• about 1 tsp cumin
• dash of cayenne
• salt + pepper to taste
• 1/2 Tbs of tahini (or peanut butter)

Process:

Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. (It’s seriously that easy.)

If this isn’t your thing, we have another favorite recipe that Heather came across in a running article from Competitor Magazine’s September issue. This recipe, from Hana Abdulaziz Feeney, RD, is sure to point out that it contains all anti-inflammatory ingredients. Apparently that’s a good thing for runners, but I wouldn’t know. I detest running. But I do NOT detest this delicious edamame hummus. Here goes!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic frozen edamame beans (no shells), defrosted
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 4 Tbsp organic canola oil
• 3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/8 Tbsp iodized salt (we leave it out – soy sauce provides plenty of salt!)

Process:

Blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Neither of these are your typical chickpea hummus, but each have their own nice flavor combinations. Enjoy either of them with some pita chips, carrots, cukes, or whatever you’ve got. Both make a nice sandwich spread, as well.

We’ll be munching on some black bean hummus and carrots as we watch the election returns come in. Let’s hope for a quick and fair count of the votes. (Wishful thinking?)

Enjoy!