black bean hummus

This is the best hummus I have ever had. My house guests are in agreement. This is very similar to the recipe on Dr. Fuhrman's member's only website, so I feel guilty about posting here but I want to remind myself of my technique for making it because I use sesame seeds instead of tahini, to name one difference.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black beans, soaked overnight, cook for a couple of hours (or 1 15-oz can)

juice of one lemon (or orange juice!)

1 cup water or cooking liquid from the beans

1 Tbsp VegiZest (optional)

1/4 cup sesame seeds (raw, unhulled)

1-2 tsp low sodium tamari or soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1-3 garlic cloves or 1/4 tsp garlic granules

paprika for garnish

pinch cayenne (optional)

If using garlic cloves, I like to cook them a little to mellow the flavor. I put them in a little metal measuring cup, in some of the bean water or lemon juice, put that in the oven for about 10-20 minutes at 350 F, until you can smell the garlic a bit.

I made this in the blender so I could get the sesame seeds grinded up into a tahini sauce. So first I put the sesame seeds, lemon juice, tamari, garlic, some juice from the beans (say 1/3 cup to start), some of the beans, and blend that up. You need enough volume and thickness (with help from a few beans) to get the sesame seeds to blend. It seems to be about 1 cup total in my blender that's required. You can tell when they are getting ground up because the liquid thickens, and it steams from the heat. Then add everything else except the paprika and blend some more. Add bean liquid for desired consistency--you may not need a whole cup, just whatever you like. The makes a nice very smooth hummus.