Banana bread bliss

Remember how I said this was the best banana bread recipe, gluten-free or otherwise?

Wrong.

It has been relegated to second place, after this guy (not the one in blue):

Behold, the new best-ever vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free (except for the chocolate chips) banana bread! This beauty hails from Erin McKenna's cookbook BabyCakes.

Seriously, this loaf has changed my perception of GF baked goods, homemade or otherwise--and believe me, I've had plenty--from this day forward, henceforth and forevermore. (That sure looks good. Think she'll ever let me have a taste??)

Pretty tall order, right? You haven't tasted it, or you'd be nodding in agreement.

It's light, fluffy. Springy to the touch. Sweet but not overpowering. Completely devoid of that funky mouth-roof tingle or telltale GF aftertaste. Unbelievably soft. Not gritty. Very cake-like. Purely blissful. (It's about time, Mom!)

Equally blissful are the giant muffins I made out of the leftover batter, studded with walnut pieces.

These beauties, as big as my palm, nearly got Hoovered up by yours truly before I could even take a picture. Then self restraint won out, and I set [most of] them aside to cool before bagging them individually for a treat or quick breakfast later this week.

It's hard being so virtuous.

I don't know why this recipe turned out darker than any banana bread I've ever made; it's certainly not burnt. Maybe the coconut oil does that? The recipe, interestingly enough, is slightly different from the version Ms. McKenna posted herself in December 2010. Guess the only thing to do is try them both and hold a taste test!

Invite me over for that, ok?

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
from BabyCakes by Erin McKenna

2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil, plus more for greasing the pan
2/3 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup rice milk (I used plain unsweetened almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium-large fruits)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325* and lightly grease a loaf pan with oil.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, and cinnamon. Add 1/2 cup oil, agave, milk, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

3. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips using a rubber spatula.

4. Fill loaf pan halfway with batter (make the best muffins ever with the leftover!) and bake in center of oven 35 minutes, rotating pan after 20 minutes. The finished loaf should bounce back slightly when pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.

5. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cutting board or cooling rack. Slice and serve immediately, or cool completely before serving. Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

A day with the little guy

My son goes to daycare three days a week, something we've continued even though I'm no longer working on those days. The other two (week)days have become known as "Mommy and Caleb Days," and they are usually the highlight of my week. I love spending time with this tiny person, who has such big ideas and conversations for a person his age--of course, since he's my first and only, I'm sure I'm highly biased!

Today we shared a little snack of raw almonds, fresh apple, and cheese while he played in the kitchen.

After snack time, inspired by how much he enjoyed a decently clean snack with me, I assembled a handful of "snack bags" that we can easily grab and toss into my purse, his stroller, or The H's lunch bag when we're in need of a munch. These bags contain a serving of almonds, dried apricots, and a half-serving of chocolate-covered roasted edamame. The little guy calls them "choklit beans."

We had some time to kill before lunch, so we did some coloring and informal letter-learning. He's great at recognizing (and sounding out) capital letters, but lower case needs some work. Good thing he's only two, and we have plenty of time for that.

Here is a video--the first I've ever posted--of an impromptu ABC concert. Perhaps my favorite part is the "cheeeeze" at the end; think he's had a camera pointed in his face a lot lately? :)

Vegan(ish) banana muffins

This recipe popped up at just the right time, in one of those "you might also like..." features at the bottom of the blog I was reading--one of my favorites! We hosted our running group's long run on Saturday and needed to come up with food for about 20 hungry, sweaty people. Since I am the Clean Eating Machine, I try to provide post-run goodies that jive with that persona. Practicing what I preach and all that. :) This muffin recipe called for stuff I already had available, so I could make it basically cost-free. Love that!

Banana-Millet Muffins
from The Clean Eating Mama
makes 12 muffins

2/3 cup whole millet
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I subbed Bob's Red Mill GF flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt (don't overdo it... about 1/8 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup soy milk, or non-dairy milk of choice (I subbed cow's milk since I had it)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup non-dairy or organic chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375* and line a muffin tin with papers or reusable liners.

2. Grind millet in a blender or food processor until nearly powdered. Dump into a mixing bowl and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

3. Combine mashed bananas with oil, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix gently; fold in chocolate chips.

4. Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

When I first tasted one, I thought they were kind of gritty, but then I realized that was the millet talking. If you don't want that touch of crunch, grind your millet more finely. The chocolate chips provide a touch of sweet creaminess, and if you're a fan of putting butter/Earth Balance/jam on muffins, that would be tasty, too. I double the recipe and ended up 24 large muffins and 12 mini muffins, with a few left over after the run. I enjoyed two of them with coffee this morning after my 8-mile run (marathon training is ramping up...).

Clean eating chocolate biscotti

Clean eating what?!

Yeah. Chocolate biscotti.

This is the first time I've made biscotti, so I can't truly compare the "clean" version to a standard recipe, but let me just say that when I was blog-browsing the other day and came across a biscotti recipe that called for more than a full stick of butter, I was content to let this recipe be my one-and-only. No oil or butter here! Plenty of flavor and crunch, though. Works for me.

Mix up a batch of these to go along with your spiced hot chocolate! These biscotti are more crumbly when fresh, but still not too hard to bite into after they've had a chance to age slightly.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti
from The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged by Tosca Reno
serves 15 (haha...)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw unsalted whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped, divided**
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
2 tsp instant coffee crystals (I use one little instant coffee "tube")
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup Sucanat
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest (I've never used this)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place 1/4 cup of the almonds**, both flours, cocoa powder, coffee crystals, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Process for a few minutes until the almonds are finely ground. Transfer mixture to a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Combine sucanat, egg, egg white, extracts, and zest (if using) in a blender and process until foamy, about 3-4 minutes. My bullet-style blender works just beautifully for this.

4. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture. Add remaining chopped almonds and mix well.

5. Divide dough into two (very sticky!) lumps on the baking sheet. Shape into logs--wet your hands a bit if the dough is sticking too much.

6. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, reduce heat to 300*, and let logs cool 10 minutes.

7. Cut each log on a diagonal into ten pieces. Spread slices out on baking sheet and return to oven for another 20 minutes. Cookies should be dry to the touch.

8. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

**Rather than messing with the food processor, I've found that using 1/4 cup almond meal in Step 2 and mixing by hand, then crushing another 1/4 cup raw almonds by hand for use in Step 4, is less mess and just as effective.

Initiate!

Part of my occasional hangup with clean eating is that too often snacks and meals are not so easy to grab. So many other things "sound" better because those are the things that are faster to open, easier to access. You know, like opening a bag of potato chips and mindlessly munching a handful or six instead of boiling some edamame to have alongside your sandwich at lunch, or cracking into a package of cookies instead of taking the time to make your own. You've been there. Me, too.

I realized today as I prepared lunch--using some leftovers and other odds-and-ends that would otherwise have been overlooked as we opted for another restaurant meal--that I have control over this. (I know, right?) It's my choice to buy the chips, which then makes it an easier choice to open and EAT the chips. (Brain surgery here, folks.) I need to take the initiative to buy and prepare healthy foods for myself and my family. INITIATE the action you want to see in your own life.

As inspiration struck, I grabbed three clementines, zipped their skins off in a flash, and plunked the ready-to-eat sections into a bowl to go with lunch. The little guy nommed half of a kiwano that we bought earlier this week. All three of us enjoyed our Dr. Praeger's patties, and that bowl of oranges was *gone* before the chips (what, you thought they were fictional?) were even mentioned.

And then I went and boiled some edamame. The little guy saw them in the pot and said to me, "HEY, dat's you! You are my edda-mommy!" :) Happy, healthy Sunday, everyone!

Have you ever seen ice cubes sink?

Yep, my ice cubes sunk to the bottom of my green monster this morning. I think that's the first time I've seen that happen!




I enjoyed this with several pieces of chocolate biscotti from Clean Eating Magazine. If I could ever find the issue that recipe is in, I'll post it for you to enjoy, too. Until then, it's mine, allll mine! (No really... it's not gluten free.)

Berry puree

At any given moment, there are usually no less than three types of frozen berry in my freezer. I got tired of shoving bags of them out of the way to reach other things, so I decided to combine a bunch and make a puree that I could use to flavor plain yogurt, pour over pancakes (The H doesn't care for syrup), and who knows what else.



This began as roughly two cups of strawberries (thawed), one cup of blueberries (semi-thawed), and 1/2 cup blackberries (frozen). To cut the tartness, I also added 2/3 teaspoon of stevia.

When it was smooth, I poured it into ice cube trays, with the intent of popping them out into a freezer bag once they were frozen.



Today I pulled out two cubes to thaw in the fridge throughout the day, then mixed with about 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt as part of my afternoon snack (total thaw time was approximately four hours).

Granola bars

When I saw these bars on Oishii, one of the blogs I follow, I was so excited to try them. The pictures reminded me of Nature Valley granola bars, which are wheat-free, which makes them safe for The H. I am pretty good at buying them on sale, but why bother when I usually have all of the simple ingredients hanging around the house? I was especially thrilled when I read about these, since my standard granola recipe is always too crumbly to hold a bar shape.

You can find the original recipe for these bars here; what follows is my kinda-sorta cleaned-up version.



Granola Bars
makes 24

4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Sucanat
3/4 cup SmartBalance 50/50 olive oil blend, melted (1.5 sticks)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt



1. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
3. Press firmly into a jelly roll pan (or a cookie sheet with high sides).
4. Bake for 15-30 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Cool completely and cut into bars.



I scored these while they were still warm, which was good because they crisped up as they cooled. The H and I each had some while they were warm and the underside was slightly chewy. I'm impressed with how well they held together and plan to make them again. I really like the toastiness of the browned edges. The H has already requested a version with chocolate drizzled over the top. :)

Tasty brown balls

I've seen recipes like this floating around for a few months now, but never tried my own. Then when I bought a package of something very similar at Whole Foods on our latest jaunt to Atlanta, I knew I could replicate them at home. And I did!



The recipe I used comes from The Clean Eating Mama. It was SO simple to pull together!

Raw Coconut-Chocolate Balls

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds (you can use toasted if you like)
1 1/2 cups pitted dates (I cut mine in half first)
3/4 cup raw, unsweetened coconut
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
1. Blend all ingredients in food processor until texture is very fine.
2. Form "dough" into balls with hands. Chill on a plate.
3. Once balls are chilled, transfer to a covered container for up to a week.



Although I doubted it would be sticky enough to hold a ball shape, in the end it did just fine. I sprinkled them with some more coconut just for kicks, and because I like it. These go down so easy; I have had a few with a glass of milk as an afternoon snack several times this week. I'm kind of glad The H doesn't care for things with coconut in them... more for me. :D This recipe made about 18 balls.

Product review: thinkThin bars

Last time we were near a Trader Joe's, I had just finished a 4-mile run and we had to hurry back home (2 hours away). I was looking for a tasty, filling, not-too-terrible snack to have in the car. The row of thinkThin bars caught my eye because I'd seen them advertised in Clean Eating Magazine. If my favorite CE resource endorses them, they must not be TOO bad, I was hoping.

The ingredients list is pretty cool--no weird artificial sweeteners that give me headaches--AND they are gluten-free, so wahoo for The H! He shared some of my brownie crunch in the car. I saved the chunky peanut butter one for later.

Unlike most protein bars I've had, the texture of this one is not paste-like or overly gritty. The chocolate coating is pretty convincing if your tastebuds need to be fooled into thinking they're eating a candy bar (we all have those moments, right? Not just me, I hope...). It's a good portion size for a mid-morning snack, and I plan to order more of them online. They're eligible for the "Subscribe & Save" feature on Amazon.com, which we already use for some gluten-free products.

The weekend!

Happy Saturday! I hope you had a beautiful, relaxing day. We didn't have any real plans this morning, other than spending some time with my sister. Even though the little guy was up before the sun (ok, so it was raining anyway) we had a nice morning chilling with each other while we got ready for the day. The sun came out later, which made for a grand afternoon. My little guy adores being outside, so I'm glad we were eventually able to get out of the house!

7:30am - breakfast

Steel-cut oats with walnut, raisins, and maple syrup (local).

10:30am - snack

Low-fat string cheese and a banana before going garage-sale shopping with my sister.

12:00pm - a few chocolate-covered edamame and water while we wandered and browsed.

1:00pm - lunch

We stopped at my sis's alma mater to watch a little of the rugby match. I'd packed a picnic lunch, but we started with the free hot dogs and popcorn they were serving. Then we shared some fresh fruit (pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries), grape tomatoes, water, and veggie Pirate's Booty, and then I had a dark mint-chocolate square.

Don't you love my gigantic thermal bag? I found it at the grocery store for $8 and it's amazing! I have been huntingfor a nice-looking cooler, since that is what The Eat-Clean Diet author suggests for toting clean eats on the go (not that I eat out of the house a lot, but sometimes I wish I had one for day trips!), and this one fit the bill perfectly. The only hard part was choosing a pattern. There were so many cute ones on sale! I intend to use this for my regular grocery shopping trips to hold cold things, in case I can't get right home to put them away.

4:00pm - snack while doing food prep

Wheat toast (local) with sunflower seed butter; hardboiled egg (local) with horseradish. In my rush to eat before the little guy woke up, I forgot to take a picture until after I'd taken a bite. Oops!

6:00pm - dinner

The little guy and I had another picnic while we waited for The H to get back from his weekend business trip. I reheated a portion of tuna nicoise casserole, and his plate was filled with quinoa, turkey, cheese (local), edamame, and grape tomatoes. I intended for us to share the strawberries, but he snatched 'em all, little fruit monster!

When The H rolled in just before 7, we piled into the car and met my sis and bro-in-law for ice cream. It was sadly unsatisfying... I had a single scoop of some chocolate-peanut butter combo, shared with the little guy.

The H put him to bed while I made H a salad, since he hadn't had dinner yet. Thanks to my gorgeous fridge, I was able to pull this beauty together in no time:

Spinach, turkey, egg, bell peppers, walnuts, beets, tomatoes, cucumber, baby bella mushrooms, feta, Romano Caesar dressing. He had a peach Chobani yogurt on the side, then we made some decaf and settled in for the night with our second dessert--almond butter chocolate chip cookies--that was far better than the first!

A delicious day

7:30am - breakfast

Whole-wheat toast (local) with sunflower seed butter, one hardboiled egg white with kosher salt, half a banana, coffee with half and half.

10:30am - snack

Coffee, edamame, string cheese, fresh strawberries, water.

1:00pm - lunch

Tuna nicoise stovetop casserole from Clean Eating Magazine, followed by a few raw almonds and chocolate-covered espresso beans, water

3:30pm - snack

Mug of green tea and fresh pineapple. Not much--lunch was filling!

6:00pm - dinner

Picnic with the little guy! Deli turkey on a multi-grain sandwich thin with spinach, mustard and pepperoncini, cantaloupe with cottage cheese, water -- until my dining companion decided it'd be funny to throw his fork into the bottle.

He ate deli turkey, cottage cheese, melon and berries, and edamame. He ate his entire plateful, minus three of the edamame, and chugged his full glass of milk. Fresh air works up an appetite!

10:00pm - snack after a 5.5-mile run

Chocolate protein shake. My goal was to run 4 miles (on the treadmill while the little guy was sleeping), but when I got to 3.8mi I figured I might as well make it 5. Then 5.25 came around and I was feeling good, so I thought I'd go for 6. But the little guy started crying pretty hard at 5.5, so I was done. Not bad, considering my goal was quite a bit less. :)

I'm working on a meal plan for next week; once I figure out what we're doing and how many nights The H will be home, I'll get it posted. I've gone a little nuts with the grocery shopping since we've been home, so there are lots of options available!

I'm back in the game!

Not that I ever truly *left* the game... anyway, I'm home! Starting with breakfast, I got right down to filling my fridge with good, clean eats.

Breakfast was steel-cut oats with a new topping combination this time:

Chocolate peanut butter, frozen tart cherries, and pecans (oatmeal not pictured). Not my favorite, but a nice change. Sorry for the dark pic; the sun wasn't really awake at 7.

While breakfast cooked (I made 4 portions and refrigerated three of them), I also boiled some eggs and when those were done, I cooked a package of frozen edamame.

I LOVED my morning snack today! Two eggs with horseradish, edamame, and two Cuties. Super sweet! Plus, I have my pretty plates back. No more boring hotel white! This pic makes me happy.

Lunch was pretty good--a veggie burger with spinach, mustard, and pepperoncini on a whole-grain sandwich thin, with three sliced baby bell peppers and a Laughing Cow cheese for dipping.

No, the mustard was not applied artistically specifically for the photo. I always squiggle my mustard. No lie.

I loved the burger but could've done without the cheese with my bell peppers. I really prefer them with olive oil and a dash of sea salt... so that is how I ate the last five pieces.

Afternoon snack was on the go, between grocery shopping and a haircut. I ate the last Nature's Path choco-peanut bar and a slice of deli turkey. Once I was home, about 2 hours later, I had a piece of wheat toast with sunflower-seed butter for my pre-run snack.

It tasted exactly like sunflower seeds, which I always forget how much I like until I have them somewhere. This will be a tasty alternative to my usual peanut butter, and leave a jar of almond butter available for making cookies this weekend!

Dinner was with my girls' run friends--taco night. I made a little salad out of romaine, the delicious Crock-Potted chicken, a sprinkle of cheese, and fresh tomatoes. I also had corn chips and peach salsa, with a gigantic glass of water. I was *so* thirsty! The little guy came with me and had black beans, chips and guacamole, a (banana?) muffin, some cheese, and then we shared an M&M cookie.

I'm now sitting down to work with a blueberry Chobani and bottle of water. Looking forward to making some real recipes again tomorrow! I have a full fridge that I'm mighty proud of.

Does Chobani make anyone else's teeth kind of sticky-squeaky?

Red Pepper Tabbouleh

OK, so the recipe card this is printed on spells it "tabbouli" but I've grown up with it spelled the way I wrote it in the subject, so that's what I'm going with.

This is another clip-and-keep recipe from Clean Eating Magazine. It appealed to me for several reasons:

1. We love tabbouleh

2. It calls for tons of veggies that I happen have

3. I get to use up several odds and ends before going out of town

To make it safe for The H, I subbed cooked, leftover quinoa for the bulgur (cracked wheat). This meant I could skip Step 1 altogether. I also added some green onions--to use them up, and because my mom's recipe calls for them--to Step 4.

Red Pepper Tabbouleh

from Clean Eating Magazine

serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup bulgur

1 tsp olive oil

2 red peppers, diced (2 cups)

2 stalks celery, diced (1 cup)

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch parsley, minced (1 cup)

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. In a medium sized heatproof bowl with lid, pour 2 cups boiling water over bulgur. Cover and place in refrigerator for 45 minutes.

2. Pour oil into a large nonstick skillet. Add peppers and celery, sprinkle with basil and salt, and saute on medium high heat for 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In another small bowl, stir together dressing ingredients.

4. When bulgur is finished soaking and water is absorbed, spoon it into a large bowl with the sauteed vegetables. Add parsley. Pour dressing over and stir gently.

I love watching a pile of fresh parsley go from this

to this. It makes such a satisfying crunchy sound, and smells so fresh!

The recipe states 1 cup of celery, so that is what I was going for--it took me four celery hearts to get there.

I snacked on some with Food Should Taste Good buffalo tortilla chips this afternoon. While it's different than what I'm used to, it was very good. Never would I have thought to add celery, balsamic vin, or basil to my tabbouleh--let alone cook some of it--but it was a nice change from the usual. There is no difference (in my humble opinion) between using quinoa or bulgur for the grain portion.

How do *you* spell tabbouleh/tabbouli?

Nutrition information for 3/4 cup serving, minus chips:

Calories - 93

Total fat - 2g

Saturated fat - 0g

Carbs - 17g

Fiber - 4g

Sugars - 2g

Protein - 3g

Sodium - 89mg

Cholesterol - 17mg

Hard-boiled eggs and my mama's hummus

My mom makes a phenomenal hummus. It blows mine out of the water. It might have something to do with simmering the garbanzos first, something I just never seem to have the time or patience for. When I want hummus, I want it yesterday. Tonight, in my food prep for the coming week, I decided to make a double batch. I still didn't boil the beans, but I must have gotten the proportions just right this time. Tangy from the lemon, creamy from the tahini, with a touch of garlic and salt in the mix. Not quite as smooth as Mom's, but it's good. It will go very well with the red and yellow peppers and English cucumber I cut up for snacking.

While shuffling things around in the fridge in preparation for the massive quantity of pureed chickpea about to take up residence there, I came across a container of roasted beets that I made last week for chicken beet salad. Yummy. In a flash of brilliance, I remembered that fellow blogger Branny had made a stunningly-colored beet hummus and I decided to throw a few into the food processor with the garbanzos and garlic.

When it was pureed smooth, it reminded me of one of those obnoxiously-sweet Jell-O fluff salads that seem to appear out of nowhere at church potlucks. Rest assured, it tastes nothing like it. The beets did not affect the flavor whatsoever. Just like the spinach in a green monster smoothie, the taste is masked, but the color and benefits of the veggies are there. Did you know that garbanzo beans can help lower your cholesterol? I learned this by poking around on one of my favorite websites, "The World's Healthiest Foods." Here is the link to the page about garbanzo goodness.

I made enough for The H to take on the road for work, some for snacking tonight, two tiny boxes for me and the little guy to grab on the go (great use of reused leftover baby food containers!), and a big ol' tub for use during the rest of the week. I love my label maker!

As most moms do, I was multitasking as I was whipping this up, also boiling eggs for snacks and the little guy's meals. More on that in a future post.

My method for hard-boiled eggs is to put the eggs in a pan and cover with cold water:

Then bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes. Then dump the hot water and flush the pan with cold water. I like to add a handful of ice cubes to help speed up the process.

When the water is cool, or after about 10 minutes, I set the eggs on a towel to dry, then store in the fridge.

Here is the recipe for my mama's hummus, just the way she makes it. Adjust quantities of lemon, garlic, and salt to taste.

Mom W's Hummus

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, liquid reserved

1/3 cup tahini

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 lemon, juiced

1. Simmer the beans in half of the reserved juice for 10 minutes; let cool. Do not drain.

2. Process beans, garlic, and tahini to a rough consistency.

3. Add the olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. Process to desired consistency.