Bean Salad

So, I was looking through my fridge and cupboard, trying to figure out what the heck I could make. I only had to go out and buy the balsamic vinegar (which was only $3). It fed me for a good few meal. It gets better the next day because it's had time to sit. It is not as sweet as the "traditional" kind, but I prefer the flavour of the balsamic over generic sweetness anyday.

Bean Salad

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1 can red kidney beans
2 tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Garlic (2 cloves)
1/2 Red onion
Parsley (as much as you want - at least 1/3 of a bunch, I'd put in 1/2 a bunch, though)
Salt & pepper
A pinch brown sugar (optional)

Drain and rinse the beans. Put the beans in a bowl and add the olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar (and sugar if desired). Chop up the tomatoes and add them. Dice the onion and garlic very fine and add them as well. Chop up the parsley coarsely and throw that in, too. Add salt & pepper as per your taste. Mix it well, cover and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour (longer is better).

Note: You could probably add another can of beans (black or white navy or anything you like!) and it would be fine, just adjust the levels of oil and vinegar if you have to. This was just all I had in the cupboard!

Hummus

...or houmous, humous, hummous, houmus... anything but humus (which is something else entirely). Any way you spell it, it's delicious. I swear, I could live on hummus, and have been close to doing so on many occasions. It goes with everything - bread (any kind), crackers (any kind), chips, vegetables, on sandwiches or falafels. I even tried a samosa dipped in tamarind chutney and hummus - heavenly!

Hummus is always better (and cheaper) if you make it yourself. It lasts about a week in the fridge.

Hummus

1 can chickpeas*
3 cloves garlic
3 heaping tbsp tahini**
juice of 2 lemons***
1/3 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
paprika (optional)

You can use a a regular blender or a hand blender for this - I prefer the hand blender, honestly, but use whatever you have. Put the lemon juice, olive oil and garlic in a large bowl or blender and blend until the garlic is fine. Drain/rinse the chickpeas and add them, along with the tahini and salt & pepper. Continue blending until it has reached a desired consistency. You can add more tahini, garlic, lemon juice or olive oil to suit your taste. I like to sprinkle a little paprika on top when I serve it. Simple as that!

Hummusian Variations

If you've got a few extra ingredients lying around, you can make delicious variants of hummus. For example;

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus: add 1 or 2 roasted red peppers, either from a jar or from your own oven****. Blend into the basic hummus recipe.

Olive & Sundried Tomato Hummus: add 15 - 20 black kalamata olives and 6 - 10 sundried tomato halves. Blend into the basic hummus recipe.

Dill & Lemon Hummus: add a tbsp of lemon zest (grated rind from one of the lemons) as well as the juice of an extra lemon (making 3 in total), and 2 tbsp (or more) or dill, fresh or dried. Blend into the basic hummus recipe.

Spicy Pepper Hummus: add a few drops of hot sauce (depending on how strong it is), throw in an extra clove of garlic and 3 - 4 pepperoncini peppers (cut the stems off first!) and/or 1 - 2 hot banana peppers. Blend into basic hummus recipe. Don't kiss anyone for a week!

Spinach & Basil Hummus: add some fresh or dried basil (6 - 8 leaves if fresh) and 2 handfuls of raw spinach. Blend well into basic hummus recipe.

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*buying dried beans is always cheaper than the can, but you'd have to soak them for 8 - 10 hours and then boil them for 1 hour, so it depends on how much time you have.
**tahini is really worth buying. I promise to have more tahini recipes. It can be a bit pricey, but I assure you it's worth it, just find the best deal you can. If not, the hummus will be okay, just add more lemon juice and olive oil.
***you can use the lemon juice from a bottle/plastic lemon, but real lemons taste better. If you don't have a citrus juice squeezer, just squeeze the juice through your fingers so the seeds don't get through (make sure you've washed your hands, though!)
****roasting red peppers is easy! Just half them (stem to bottom), brush with oil and put them in the toaster oven (or regular oven) for 10 minutes on 400 degrees. Or just buy them in the jar if you like (sometimes they are cheaper like that, depending where you live).