Hey friends! Having Monday off made this week fly by and I’m pretty excited Friday is already here!!
Today I have a fun recipe to share. It all started with the lima bean mousse we had at the Arcadia vegetarian wine dinner last week…
I couldn’t get the cucumber cups with mousse out of my head and I knew we had a bag of frozen lima beans in the freezer. Despite having nothing packed for the beach when I came home from work on Friday evening, I started whipping up a batch of hummus. You see where my priorities are.
We needed a healthy snack for the drive. 🙂
I ate a few crackers with the hummus before leaving and then packed the rest in a cooler so I could share it with my friend Jess and her family at the beach. I was a little apprehensive when we broke it out one night as an appetizer before dinner (you just never know how new foods are going to go over) but it was a huge hit! A couple of people even thought there was some sort of cheese in it because it tasted so creamy… nope, it’s vegan.
Basil Lima Bean Hummus
Ingredients
- 12 oz bag of frozen lima beans
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 medium cloves garlic, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1/4-1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid or water, more or less to thin dip as desired
Instructions
- Cook lima beans according to package directions, drain and reserve ¼-1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
- In a food processor, combine all ingredients except cooking liquid or water.
- Purée until smooth, gradually adding liquid as desired to thin dip and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
By the way, I was getting a lot of emails from people asking for an easy way to print my recipes so I’m now formatting them with the print button. I hope this is helpful!
This recipe is a lovely change of pace from regular hummus – it has a sweeter flavor and works great as a dip with crackers or veggies, as a spread on sandwiches or as a salad topping. Speaking of crackers, the ones in these photos are Raisin Rosemary Crisps from Trader Joe’s and they are phenomenal. My cousin told me about them a few weeks ago and I’m now in love a.k.a I can’t stop eating them by the handful. If you buy them, don’t blame me, I gave you all a fair warning. 😉
Let me know what you think of the hummus if you try it!
Ooohhh this looks great Brittany! I have never used lima beans for hummus, in fact, I can’t remember the last time I ate a lima bean. Sounds delicious!
I don’t think I’ve ever had lima beans before, but I *love* hummus, so I’ll have to give this a shot!
Let me know if you do! 🙂
I love hummus so I need to try this! Thanks!
This looks amazing. I cannot believe how creamy it is. I actually love lima beans, so I cannot wait to try this.
This looks great! I love hummus!
I’m pinning this one! Must try!
Thanks Paige. I hope you like it!
Those crackers look good! Have you ever tried the Lesley Stowe Raincoast Crisps fig & olive cracker? They are the best. Once the box is open, there is no coming back :-p
YES!!! They remind me of those, only they’re smaller and cheaper. They are just as addictive. 🙂
This sounds so delicious! I can’t wait to try it!
That hummus looks beautiful, I have to try this!!
this recipe is so good. I used dried lima beans and I think I overcooked them but it didnt matter.
So glad you liked it Louisa!
I also used dried lima beans, along with frozen basil from last summer’s garden, and it’s fantastic! Super yummy – thanks Brittany!
Love the dip. Added a chilli and used lime and cumquat juice instead of the lemon as I didnt have any. YUM. CHEERS
This may be the best darn dip I’ve ever made Brittany. My diet is very low acidity, so this is perfect! I’ll now use this as a sandwich spread also. Thank you TONS!
Yay! I’m so glad that you like it Daleen!
The perfect use for that sad bag of lima beans sitting in the kitchen cupboard…wanting to stray from the standard hummus recipe and I’m glad I came across yours! I added dried coriander and sumac to give it a middle eastern flair and deepen the overall flavor- a hit in my household!
Looks interesting. Question – what if you don’t have tahini, is there an acceptable substitute, or is the recipe a bust without it? I’d try it but my family is kinda picky and I would hate to waste a can of beans. Yes, I’m that cheap. 😉 Thanks!
I think it would be okay without the tahini. You could add a teaspoon or two of sesame oil to get the sesame flavor. Let me know if you try it.
There was a reference to the crackers, but I didn’t catch what kind are pictured. THey really look great and I can’t wait to try this!
They’re Raisin Rosemary Crisps from Trader Joe’s. Another version that’s a bit more pricey but similar is the Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps from Raincoast Crisps.
I’ve been making this for 6 months now with my Ninja. It’s delicious. I’ve tried it with frozen lima beans however and I didn’t care for it as well. It’s much better to use dried beans in my opinion. To me, it kind of tastes like garlic mashed potatoes. Nobody else in the house really cares for it – bonus for me – I eat it up with a bag of tortilla chips. I’ve also frozen the leftovers in 1 cup plastic bowls, thawed overnite, no change in taste or texture, yum! I also use fresh basil from the garden (it adds a better flavor to this than the bottled dried basil from the store). The way I preserve the basil is just run it under water, throw the leaves in a container, and put straight in freezer. There is no need to blanch the basil, or any greens for that matter, just rinse them with water, and freeze with the water droplets on them – when you are ready to use, just get the amount you need from the freezer, and put straight into your blender.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, it’s one of my favorite recipes.
I’m going to try using the coriander seed and I love the idea of using this for a sandwich/pita spread.