How to make Bean Dips including Hummus

Following my previous post I was having a chat with a FB friend of mine, Marcus, waxing lyrical about lovely black garlic. He suggested adding some to hummus which inspired my sudden lunch, using up some leftover white beans, and got me thinking about other bean dips.

I puréed together 90g of leftover white beans, 30ml olive oil and 3 cloves of black garlic and seasoned the result, being particularly generous with black pepper and you can see it above with an entirely appropriate balsamic glaze drizzle.

Incidentally I should like to draw your attention to the lettuce in this picture above, it is 5 days past its best before date and doing most awfully well, don’t you think? Crispy and fresh and yummy.

Hummus-like dishes are a great way of using up all kinds of leftover legumes but it is just not right to actually call all bean dips, spreads and purées “hummus” as this means chickpea in Arabic (حمّص) so you would be lying.

Basic Recipe for Bean Dips

1 tin beans of your choice, drained and rinsed
OR
equivalent in cooked beans – about 250g
2, 3, 4 or so cloves of garlic in one of these five delicious forms
4 tablespoons cooking liquid or stock
2 tablespoons good tasty olive oil
seasoning – salt and pepper (plus chilli powder, cumin, smoked paprika, za’tar or 
whatever you fancy)

~   Put the beans plus other flavourings (garlic,
      herbs, spices, cooked vegetables etc.) into your
      food processor or liquidiser.
~   Run the processor whilst drizzling in your choice
      of liquid and oil to achieve a smooth (or chunky
      if you prefer!) purée.
~   Taste and season.

You can, of course, change the ratio of cooking liquid/olive oil to taste or, if you want a thicker spread or a runnier dip adjust the liquid and oil accordingly.

Bespoke Suggestions for
different beans …

Hummus & Other Chickpea Dips 

Adding tahini to a chickpea dip will entitle you to call the dish Hummus bi Tahini. You need about a tablespoon of tahini per 200g chickpeas, plus garlic, olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. 

Other tasty additions are a little yogurt, harissa, cumin and other Middle Eastern flavours.

Serve with pita chips. Just for old times’ sake here is a picture of my roasted garlic hummus with black olive salad.

White Bean / Cannellini Bean Dips

These beans go particularly well with lemon juice, olive oil. black pepper, cayenne and fresh tasting herbs especially parsley, sage, tarragon and thyme. Try replacing the cooking liquid or stock in the basic recipe with lemon juice and adding some finely grated lemon zest and parsley.

Black Beans Dips

These are used a lot in Latin America, are good with fresh garlic, chilli (smoky chipotle is good), fresh coriander, cumin, lime juice, coriander (both fresh and dried), cumin, red pepper, onions – especially red onions, corn, avocado and sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips to continue the theme.

Kidney Beans Dips

Kidney beans also have Latin American associations so add cumin, chilli, lemon or lime, a little tomato paste perhaps, fresh coriander and so on.

Cooked Fresh Peas & Beans can also
be used this way …

~   Broad Beans go well with bacon fat instead of olive oil plus bits of bacon and also with dill.
~   Peas are good with mint, of course, spring onions, crème fraîche.
~   Edamame like lemon or lime and maybe a little wasabi paste.

Additions to Bean Dips

~   Try different herbs and spices.
~   Yogurt or mayonnaise or cream cheese, sour cream etc. 
~   Add roasted vegetables such as carrots, beetroot, fennel or red pepper (very pretty) or t
      try caramelised onions – just add them when puréeing the beans. 
~   Add texture by folding in chopped nuts, crispy fried onions, seeds, a few whole
      beans, etc. as the mood takes you.

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