A trendy new seafood restaurant opened up not too long ago in my neighborhood. Rather than the typical complimentary bread and butter, they serve breadsticks with a side of hummus. It was the BEST hummus I have ever had in my life! So I pried to find out their "special ingredient". It turns out that their "special ingredient" is butter! My sister-in-law called it cheating and I completely agree with her. Of course, if you add a stick of butter in a bean dip, it would be delicious but can you really still call it hummus?!
I was lying on the daybed in my apartment and dreaming about that delicious cheating-hummus. I tried to talk myself into making hummus with butter but eventually my conscious took over and I quickly dismissed that thought -- although, I still had hummus stuck in my head. I walked over to the kitchen, searched through my pantry, and realized that I didn't have chickpeas but I did have a can of organic great northern white beans. So I drained the beans and threw it in a food processor along with some typical ingredients that would go into hummus such as garlic, salt, a bit of oil and so on. I let the machine do it's work but I wasn't happy with the texture. I wanted a creamy dip and that's when I saw the ripe avocado sitting on my counter. I threw that in the mixture, pulsed it a few times, and that avocado changed the whole dip.
See that little indent on the right hand side? I couldn't resist -- I had to dip my finger in there to taste :)
I've tested this recipe several times and I think I've perfected it. I hope you enjoy this creamy White Bean Avocado Dip as much as I do!
Creamy White Bean Avocado
Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) great northern bean
1 ripe avocado
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon, freshly juiced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water, filtered
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Drain the can of beans well. Add the drain beans, avocado, red pepper flakes, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper into the food processor. Allow the food processor to puree all ingredients while you slowly drizzle the water and oil into the chute of the machine. Puree till smooth, about a minute or two.
Serve with melba toast or warmed pita bread.
Ingredients:
1 can (15 ounces) great northern bean
1 ripe avocado
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon, freshly juiced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water, filtered
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Drain the can of beans well. Add the drain beans, avocado, red pepper flakes, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper into the food processor. Allow the food processor to puree all ingredients while you slowly drizzle the water and oil into the chute of the machine. Puree till smooth, about a minute or two.
Serve with melba toast or warmed pita bread.
