Dried Fava Bean Hummus.

I often buy bags of beans (thanks to Bob’s Red Mill) that look interesting or something I haven’t tried before.  Now I’ve eaten fresh fava beans but never dried so I grabbed the bag and vowed to make something this week (and not let it get buried in the back of pantry never to be seen again).  This is a crazy (yes, another) week with three swim meets, one of which we are hosting amongst construction in our house, training and our swim banquet.  My eye is twitching in stress as I type this (ha ha).  So in my free hour that I was blessed with today, I grabbed the beans and cooked them according to the package directions.  It only took about 40 minutes.  The texture is similar to a baked potato when done.  They are packed with protein, fiber and iron!  Perfect as I haven’t been eating meat in the past few months.  And this is what I did with them after draining…

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of cooked shelled/blanched fava beans
5 cloves of garlic, peeled (you can use less if you aren’t a fan)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/4 cup olive oil
Vegetable broth

Directions:

Into your food processor, add all of the ingredients throughout the salt.  Pulse a few times.  Then through the spout, with the machine running, drizzle the olive oil into the mixture.  If your hummus doesn’t look creamy, then add additional vegetable broth (helping to keep the calories down) until you achieve a smooth creamy texture.

Serve with veggies, pretzels, crackers or whatever you wish!  You can use it as a spread on sandwiches too.   Very versatile and totally vegan!

— Knead to Cook