Healthy Eating

Homemade White Bean Cannellini Hummus Dip

Healthy Eating, Original Recipes, Recipes / January 16, 2017

For years, I made hummus with the standard garbanzo beans or chickpeas. It was good, but I was never really happy with the consistency. I’ve tried taking the skins off, which doesn’t seem to make any difference. Then I made Jessica’s everything white bean hummus. Everything hummus is a brilliant idea, and the white bean texture is fabulous. So I started tweaking my own hummus recipe with white kidney or cannellini beans. The cannellini beans are a total game changer. The consistency is spot on without any tedious, time-consuming bean skin removal. The flavor is just different enough from regular hummus that you’re sure to wow family and friends every time.

You do need a food processor to make hummus from scratch, which is a deal breaker for many people. (Please don’t break your blender or immersion blender attempting to make hummus.) I may only use my coffee maker 2-3 times per year, but my food processor lives on the counter and is in regular use for hummus, pesto, and pie crusts. Food processors live a ridiculously long time (think, multiple decades). They are a bit pricey but well worth the investment, considering you’ll only ever have to buy one or two of them in your lifetime. The model I have is about as old as I am, but this version is the updated model.

You can make hummus with raw or roasted garlic. Lately, I’ve been making this amazing slow cooker whole roasted chicken. It involves several whole garlic cloves, which get slowly roasted and filled with delicious spices as the chicken cooks. Then you can use the roasted garlic for your hummus! It gives the hummus a slightly warmer garlic flavor. If you switch back and forth between roasted and raw garlic for your hummus, just remember that you can add a lot more roasted garlic than raw garlic. Three raw garlic cloves pack quite a punch. Not that I would know from experience or anything.

Besides substituting cannellini beans for garbanzo beans, the other secret to making this hummus extra creamy is to let the food processor run for a full five minutes. The food processor does all the tough work for you so there’s no reason to skimp on the processing time.

When I serve hummus for a social gathering, I always serve it with an assortment of raw veggies and rice crackers. My family and I got hooked on rice crackers years ago and have never really stopped eating them in mass quantities at every possible opportunity. Currently, I buy the Nabisco Good Thins Simply Salt rice crackers. Their poppy seed and sesame variety is also really good. Nabisco makes a bunch of other gluten-free crackers now, too, which is pretty cool. Whole Foods also makes a very similar sesame rice cracker under their 365 brand for a similar price. If you shop at Whole Foods, it’s another easy option. All of the cracker links are affiliate links, but I was not sponsored or compensated in any way to mention these products. I just really like them.

My go-to raw veggies are carrots, celery, and assorted sweet peppers (whatever looks best at the store that day). Peppers are my favorite veggie, and I always have some kind of sweet pepper in the vegetable drawer. Depending on my mood and the time of year, I may also add cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, and/or broccoli. Of course, you can customize your veggie assortment any way you like. Hummus goes well with basically everything so you can’t go wrong.

Right before you serve the hummus, add a drizzle of olive oil. It gives the hummus a professional, restaurant-style quality and takes the creaminess factor just a little bit higher. Of course, if you’re eating hummus straight out of the Tupperware container with a box of crackers next to you, you can forgo the restaurant olive oil drizzle. No judgment either way.

Simple. Delicious. Healthy. And it really does come together in just 12 minutes. I roll my eyes when I see 12 minutes prep time on a recipe, too. You’ll have to trust me on this one. Five minutes to get the ingredients in the food processor. Five minutes to blend the hummus. Two minutes to get the hummus transferred out of the food processor into the container of your choosing. Done. Enjoy. You’re welcome.

Print Recipe

Homemade White Bean Cannellini Hummus Dip

Prep Time12

Total Time12

Course: Dips and Spreads

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

2 15 oz. cans white kidney or cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1 clove garlic chopped (more if you're using roasted garlic or like your hummus extra garlicky)
1 lemon juiced
1 generous tablespoon tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Empty the two cans of cannellini beans into a pasta strainer. Rinse thoroughly. Transfer to the food processor.
Add the garlic, lemon, tahini, salt, and olive oil to the food processor.
Secure the lid of the food processor. Blend the hummus for a full five minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency.
I prefer to refrigerate the hummus for at least an hour before serving it. Serve with an assortment of raw vegetables and rice crackers.

Notes

Hummus keeps in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. It also freezes for up to three months. If I'm not making it for a social gathering, I split the hummus into two batches and freeze one batch.

Recipe URL: https://www.roseclearfield.com/recipe/homemade-white-bean-hummus-dip

Featured in this post:

chip and dip bowl (similar) | cutting board | spoon

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[Disclaimer: This post contains a few affiliate links. Thanks for your support!]

More recipes to try:

20-Minute Classic Sloppy Joes

Slow Cooker Ground Beef Chili with Corn

P.F. Chang’s Inspired Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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30 Days of Healthy Dinner Recipes

Healthy Eating, Recipe Round Ups, Recipes / January 12, 2017

January is the perfect time for a little dinner planning inspiration. After a month of way too many amazing cookies and chocolates (not complaining), it’s time to get back to a more normal meal schedule. If you’ve made a 2017 resolution to eat better, a roundup of 30 days of healthy dinner recipes just made your life that much easier. I also know what it’s like to face the daily grind of deciding what to make for dinner. You start a new week, and your mind is blank. Having a few go-to recipe sources makes life a lot easier.

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Tropical Green Smoothie With Pineapple, Mango, and Coconut

Healthy Eating, Original Recipes, Recipes / August 30, 2016

I am inherently wary of trends, and green smoothies are no exception. Plus the idea of blending spinach with fruit sounded pretty gross. Wouldn’t it taste like a salad in a glass? I know that I’m not alone here. For the record, I still don’t make green smoothies with kale. Ever. But I have come around to spinach and am still always pleasantly surprised by how little you can taste it in the smoothie.

In case you think I’m really behind the times, I wrote my first green smoothie article back in early 2014. I know many people would rather post about smoothie bowls and other more trendy food creations, but in mid-2016, I’m still sharing my go-to green smoothie recipe.

This green smoothie recipe has a tropical flare because I love all things coconut (anyone else?), and pineapple and mango is one of my favorite fruit combinations. Does it taste like a pina colada? No. But it’s a close second, which is pretty exciting when you want a delicious drink that’s also healthy and will keep you going for a few hours of the day.

I make my green smoothies using an immersion blender because it’s quick and requires minimal cleanup. It’s also a really greater blender solution for a single person smoothie. For me, blending 20-30 seconds with the immersion blender creates a texture I like. If you prefer a super well-blended smoothie, of course feel free to make it in a high-powered blender. (I really love the immersion blender model I use that I’ve linked above. Check it out.)

If you’re using frozen fruit, thaw it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. I thaw my fruit right in my immersion blender cup. If you’re using fresh fruit, chop up the fruit for your smoothie into large cubes. You’re going to be blending it so you don’t have to chop it particularly nicely. Add the fruit to the bottom of your blender or immersion blender cup. I add 3/4-1 cup fruit so I’m adding just under 1/2 cup each of mango and pineapple.

Layer the fresh spinach leaves on top of the fruit. I add one cup of spinach leaves, loosely packed.

Add the liquids. I add 3/4 cup soy milk and 1/4 cup coconut water. I only use soy milk at home, and as such, have not experimented with other types of milk for my smoothies. Feel free to use the milk of your choice for your tropical green smoothie.

Finally, add a small handful of sweetened shredded coconut. I know that there is a huge stigma right now about adding sweetener, especially granulated sugar, to…basically anything. Personally, I don’t see how it’s any better to add a ton of honey or agave but no sugar. Anyway, if you can drink a green fruit smoothie with no sugar, more power to you. I need some sweetener, and I find that the sweetened shredded coconut adds that sweet while also taking the coconut flavor (and the texture of the drink) up a notch without adding lots of sugar.

Using your immersion blender, blend the smoothie for 20-30 seconds, tapping the blender a couple times to make sure all of the fruit and spinach gets blended thoroughly. If you’re using a high-powered blender, you may need to adjust the blending time slightly.

Enjoy! Usually I drink it right out of the immersion blender cup with a straw. But I put it in a glass and styled it a bit for the blog.

Print Recipe

Tropical Green Smoothie With Pineapple, Mango, and Coconut

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Course: Beverages

Servings: 1

Ingredients

1/4-1/2 cup mango cubed
1/4-1/2 cup pineapple cubed
1 cup spinach leaves washed and loosely packed
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup coconut water
small handful sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

If you're using frozen fruit, thaw it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. If you're using fresh fruit, chop up the fruit for your smoothie into large cubes.
Add the mango and pineapple to the bottom of your blender or immersion blender cup.
Layer the fresh spinach leaves on top of the fruit, taking care not to pack them too tightly.
Add the milk and coconut water.
Add a small handful of sweetened shredded coconut.
Use your immersion blender or other blender of your choosing to blend the smoothie for 20-30 seconds. Pause to tap or shake the blender a couple times to make sure the fruit and spinach blend thoroughly. If you're not using an immersion blender, you may need to adjust the time slightly.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!

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