My family and friends love this skinny dip.  It’s loaded with such good-for-you ingredients.  Most hummus is made mostly of garbanzo beans, tahini, garlic and olive oil, but this one’s unconventional.  This green colored hummus has garbanzo beans, garlic and a little olive oil, but you’ll love the addition of edamame and fresh spinach.  It doesn’t need the tahini at all.  Talk about vitamin and antioxidant rich!  A 2 tablespoon serving has 63 calories, 4 grams of fat and 2 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. Whip up my delectable hummus for your next gathering…It will be a big hit and a keeper for sure.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

4 garlic cloves

1½ cup fresh edamame, shells removed, if using frozen, defrosted

1½ cup fresh spinach, stems removed

1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup water

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

½-¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste

Instructions

1. In a food processor, add the garlic and pulse until chopped.  Add all the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.  If still too thick, add more water until you reach desired consistency.  Taste.  Add more salt, if desired and red pepper flakes, if you want it spicier.  Mix again.

Makes 2½ cups

Food Fact

Edamame [eh-dah-Mah-meh] is the Japanese name for green soybeans.

Hummus is the thick Middle Eastern sauce made from mashed garbanzo beans, seasoned with garlic, olive oil or sesame oil.  It’s usually served as a dip with pita or as a sauce.

Healthy Benefits

Edamame is extremely high in protein and fiber. It provides useful amounts of B vitamins, significant calcium and a little zinc.

Spinach is considered to be one of the “super foods.” No wonder… It’s rich in iron, vitamins A, C and beta-carotene.

Garlic promotes circulation and lowers cholesterol.  It also contains sulfur compounds that may help to prevent cancer growth.

Prep Tip

If you don’t have a food processor, you can make this hummus in the blender.  Just be sure to blend in batches.  Once all blended until smooth, add to a bowl and mix together.

Serving Tip

Serve this hummus with whole wheat toasted pita cut into triangles.  I used Trader Joe’s Middle East whole wheat pita.  There are a few brands available in most supermarkets.  This dip also works great as a sandwich spread instead of mayo or avocado.

Makes 2½ cups

Weight Watchers (old points) 1
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 2

This entry was posted Thursday, March 15th, 2012 at 4:56 am and is filed under Recent, Recipes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.