Sunday, September 12, 2010

Black Bean Hummus...MMMM.

Last night my friend had a small get-together to celebrate the return of football season. As the sole non-carnivore, I promised I would bring some delicious vegetarian edibles for others to enjoy. Shortly thereafter I began to think, "What the hell am I going to bring? I don't know what other people are gonna like!"

Luckily, we have the internet, and a tasty recipe is no more than a Google search away. "Vegan football food" led me to quite a few interesting ideas, but a lot of them had "weird" ingredients that people might balk at or stuff that I didn't think I could find around here. (I did, however, find an AWESOME looking "Tempeh Hot Wings" recipe that I'm dying to try. But that post is for another day.)

In the end I settled on making this "Speedy Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna," which I've made before and meat-eaters and vegs alike enjoyed. (NOTE: To make it more speedy, just use salsa instead of trying to put together all those first ingredients. I always add whatever spices I have on hand, but for me it's cheaper and faster to start off with salsa.) Yes, it has dairy, but I figured I'd better start slow with normal people because sometimes even the word "vegetarian" causes panic, and I didn't want to start a riot with the word "vegan."

For my other dish, I found this Black Bean Hummus recipe that looked pretty easy, and for which I already had most of the ingredients. The only one I thought I'd have trouble with was soy yogurt, which, lo and behold, is unavailable in BFE. Shocking. Instead, I substituted 0% fat, plain Fage Greek yogurt.

O.M.G.

Y'all.

This dip was awesome. It was an even bigger hit than the Mexican lasagna (which, to be honest, suffered from having to sit around for over an hour while we waited on other people, other food, etc.). Because the recipe makes a pretty good amount, I had leftovers to bring home. When I woke up this morning, I beelined it for the fridge and to my surprise it is even more delicious after the ingredients have a chance to meld and chill together.

I think next time I'll try it without the yogurt, to see if I can find a suitable "vegan" version, but for you guys not bothered by that constraint, this yogurt version is DE.LI.SHUS. Make it now!

3 comments:

Tempe said...

Tell me you don't think of me a little when you see the word "Tempeh." Admit it.

Am going to try the black bean hummus soon. Chris, my purist Lebanese husband, won't like it (dork), but then there's more for me, then. :)

Niki said...

Try it try it try it! I didn't have a food processor, so I used my blender. Worked out fine. It is super quick to make, too!

"Tempeh" sounds like the drunk version of your name. I could come visit you and make you Tempeh Wings and get drunk if you want :)

tempe said...

Wings and beer? In!