Edamame Hummus

Over the past few years, I've discovered something that many Americans have known for a while. Edamame is good!

For those of you not already in the know, edamame is a soybean. It's most commonly eaten as an appetizer of sorts. It comes in a green pod and is usually dusted with salt, then served warm. To eat, hold one end of the pod, pop the other end in your mouth and pull it back out hrough your teeth to release the beans. Simple, right?

I've eaten a lot of edamame since we've been introduced. And now I've discovered another way to dive into this soybean: Hummus. More specifically: Edamame Hummus.

Hummus is a Middle Eastern dip that is typically made with chickpeas. Chickpeas are one of the two types of beans that I can stand to be around. Edamame is the second. But I recently stumbled across the idea of making an edamame hummus. I'm not sure where I first saw such an idea. Undoubtedly it was on the interweb somewhere. I searched for some recipes and found a relatively simple one on Life's Ambrosia's blog. I immediately bookmarked the recipe for later use.

Now it's "later"! Why does that statement sound like "Now and Later", the fabulous taffy candy from my childhood. I think they still sell them. Apple's my favorite flavor, if you want to get me a belated birthday gift.

Digressing...

OK, back on track. Edamame hummus. Let's get to the recipe.

Edamame Hummus
recipe from Life's Ambrosia

• 1 1/2 cup shelled edamame
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbsps tahini (sesame paste)
  
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt to taste

1) Cook the edamame according to package directions. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

2) Combine the edamame, water, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and soy sauce in a food processor and process until well blended.

3) With food processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. The amount of olive oil you add depends on how smooth/chunky you like your hummus.

4) Taste test the hummus and add salt as necessary.

This hummus was smooth and creamy. It had a nice salty flavor from the soy sauce and the additional salt, yet it was refreshing as a result of the lemon juice. I could taste the flavor of the edamame even though it was a bit subdued by the tahini. That was fine with me even though it makes this hummus taste more like a traditional hummus that is made with chickpeas. If you want the dip to taste more like edamame, you can decrease the amount of tahini you use. Another option is to nix the tahini altogether and just use sesame oil. I discovered this trick during my search on the web. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I saw it, but you can do a Google search. It's out there somewhere.

I dipped just about everything in this hummus. I used baby carrots, celery, mushrooms, crackers, etc. It's a great afternoon snack that's pretty healthy as well. Although it might not be so healthy to sit down and eat almost half of this dip in one sitting, which I somehow managed to do. You might want to show a bit more restraint than I did.