What to do with 18 cups of freshly cooked cannellini beans? Well, two cups of ’em can turn into a reasonable amount of this beautiful hummus, if you combine them with 3 or 4 roasted little red beets. It’s an idea that jumped off the page as I skimmed through the current issue of Whole Living. (Not a magazine I usually read, but the smoothies and juices on the cover caught my eye. …and are terrific, I might add!)
Anyhoo, I’ve been testing batch after batch of dry cannellini beans in preparation for a cooking class tonight, so have also been trying to come up with all kinds of ways to use them — whole, mashed, puréed, you name it. See for yourself how much better freshly cooked beans are than canned; check out my “Bean Basics” and just keep an eye on the time because your beans, in your kitchen, in your area may cook slower or faster than mine. The verdict this week is that my cannellinis must be really fresh because they cooked to a creamy consistency in 3 hours on “low” in my slow cooker – a much shorter cook time than I’ve experienced in the past.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cannellini beans (preferably home cooked)
- 3 - 4 small roasted red beets, peeled and quartered
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Put cannellinis, roasted beets, olive oil and lemon juice in the workbowl of a food processor and purée.
- Store tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Keeps about a week.
Notes
Amy's Kitchen Coach Tips
Serve roasted beet hummus with slices of fennel for an extra lemony taste. (Try it!)
To roast beets: cut off greens, leaving about an inch from the beet root. (Do not cut off the root end or you will leak beet juice during the cooking process.) Scrub beet under running water to remove dirt. Place in glass baking dish, add a few tablespoons of water & cover tightly with foil. Poke a couple fork holes in the foil and pop in a 425 degree F oven for about 45 minutes, until fork tender.
