White Bean Hummus with Fresh Thyme & Basil

Here is another wonderful recipe from my new favorite cookbook Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. I love hummus. It is so easy to just buy store bought hummus but nothing can compare to hummus made at home. Once you are able to buy typical hummus ingredients like tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garbanzo beans, and garlic you can whip up your own dip in no time. It actually becomes cheaper to make it at home, then buy in the store. Plus you avoid all those "extra" preservatives found in the store-bought hummus.

My mom needed a dish for her monthly bunko group and she mentioned just buying hummus and pita chips. I told her that I have this delicious white bean hummus that I'd love to make. The ending result? Well she came home with a near empty bowl of hummus! The girls loved it. The fresh herbs and the slight red wine tang made this dip very hard to portion control. Good thing it is healthy and has good fats and proteins! I also loved how smooth this dip was. Normally I have to keep adding oil or water for a smoother consistency. Not with this recipe! Luckily I was able to find the recipe online at Dreena's blog and now if you haven't tried it now is your chance! This is a great dish to bring over to a friend's house or serve at your very own party!

White Bean Hummus with Fresh Thyme & Basil By Dreena Burton
Makes 6-7 servings (about 2 1/2 cups) | Wheat-Free

Ingredients
2 cups cooked cannellini (white kidney) beans
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini
1 medium clove garlic (I used 2-3 tsp of minced garlic)
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used 1 1/2 tbsp)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp water (to thin dip as desired)- I did not use any water
2 1/2- 3 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (not dried)
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn or chopped (not dried)

In a food processor, combine all ingredients expect water, thyme, and basil. Puree until smooth, gradually adding water as desired to thin dip and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add thyme and basil and puree briefly to incorporate ingredients.

 

I like to garnish my dip with a sprig of thyme and sprinkle of basil. I served it with pita chips. Don't forget to add raw vegetables for dipping!

I ran a 5k over the weekend! Stay tune with how it all went and what I have decided about my running future. I think I "found" a new love!

Talk to you soon,
Fallon

Bunko Recap!

Monday night my mom had her annual bunko for the month of December. She always picks December because she has so much fun doing it. The past few years I've helped her with the food and this year I decided to do EVERYTHING on my own. We usually buy items pre-made to make it easier and then add fresh along, like a pre-made dessert from somewhere. Not this year though. I planned out everything and it was going to be all made at home! I had to cook for a large crowd 12 ladies including myself because I wasn't going to cook all the food and not have some! LOL.

The end result was a HUGE success. The ladies loved their meal and dessert. We had fun when it came time to do the present exchange, and were giggly from the lovely drinks we've all been drinking down, like red wine or my new favorite, prosecco and pomegranate juice. They were also using Chambord in their prosecco which is really delicious as well! My goal for the bunko menu was to keep it Italian, simple, healthy, delicious, and no meat. I don't think anyone notice that it was all vegetarian! One lady is allergic to chocolate and another is allergic to pecans. So I made sure none of those items were included in this menu because I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy everything.  

Appetizers:

Cream Cheese with Fischer and Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle sauce, pita chips on the side.

This plate was CLEAN at the end of the night. This is always a huge hit at parties with everyone. The creamy cheese and the sweet, spicy kick from the sauce is so good! I like this with goat cheese too ;)

 

Mrs. May's Naturals Ultimate Crunch

These were all gone, they are so good! I get a huge bag at Costco for a good deal.

 

Meal:  

Caesar Salad (which I've made before and shared on the blog.)


Baked Ziti ( I adapted my recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.)

• I used Barilla Plus pasta. You can't tell the difference and you get the health benefits of Omega 3's and extra fiber.
• I didn't make meatballs and I added fresh basil to my sauce.

This was such a hit! I didn't make ziti in a while, so I wanted something to follow. My dad gave me some good tips, and now I'll be able to make this my way next time. I'm thinking for my boyfriend and I'll add meatballs to it for him! 

Ciabatta Garlic bread (This came from Trader Joe's, heated up in the oven, crunchy outside, soft middle with chunks of roasted garlic!)

My plate, but I went back for seconds on bread, pasta and salad! The bread was my favorite, I took a roasted tomato and smeared it on top of it when I ate it.

 

Roasted Vegetables ( I made a variation of this during the summer.) Yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, mini tomatoes, sweet onion, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and EVOO.
  Dessert:

Butterscotch Apple Cake (made this for Thanksgiving.) Vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce, no pecans.
 

I'm eating my cake and forgot to take a picture!! So here it is almost done =P

  This was what was left of the cake, and my dad came home and FINISHED the rest. Wish I had some leftover dessert for the next day!

 

It was a very successful evening. I had so many compliments on the meal I provided. I even had to give away copies of the dessert! They loved it a lot. I tried to get a mother/daughter photo but we never got one! Oh well. The food is always the most important part right ;) So this week I'm going to finally start Christmas baking! I can't wait, I'm really in the mood for my peppermint bark and fudge!

So stay tune!

Good night,
Fallon