I know some of you out there will enjoy Saturday as a wonderful day free from work. Perhaps you
will clean the garage, or have an at home spa day. Well here at my house this Saturday changes our weekend dynamics at least through Thanksgiving, for we are now blessed with college football season. To be honest we started last night alternating channels between the Tennessee/ Appalachian State and South Carolina/ Vandy games. Even though we have no dog in the hunt with either game, we watch because it is our job to watch SEC games just to know where our favorite team ranks in the conference standings (RTR!) Because Saturday marks the official first Saturday of games, and there are going to be some really good games we will begin watching ESPN Game Day at 9 am and will have the TV on some game or another until late night. This will require a lot of food, because who can watch all this football without proper noshing?
Not us, and because I am doing this while observing my 50 buck a week budget, there is no stopping for the usual chips and dips. I am having to do some serious planning. And cooking, did I mention serious cooking?
We do love a dip or spread, mainly because they hang out on a coffee table easily and everyone can grab whatever they want when they want it. Today's dips had to meet 2 criteria: they had to be able to be made ahead of time, be cheap and be made with what I had on hand, which severely limited my range.
I remembered I had cooked a bag of dried black beans and frozen them in packages of about a cup and a half. Eureka, Black bean hummus! I have also been letting my kefir sit an additional few hours so I had about 1 cup of super thick kefir in the fridge. (It has the consistency of sour cream, but it a bit tarter.) It because onion dill dip (recipe and results to follow in a later post). The only other thing I needed was something to actually dip. I knew I had some carrots and a few crackers left, but I also needed something else. I found and tried a recipe for homemade pita, to turn into pita chips tomorrow
at the lake. (Will let you know the outcome of it later, since the dough is still rising)
Meanwhile back to the hummus.
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (a can drained would be about the same amount)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I used regular white vinegar and it worked fine)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used bottled and again, it's fine)
2 tablespoons oilve oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
couple of dashes dried red pepper (optional)
couple of dashes tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
If I were doing this normally I would put everything in the food processor and whirl it into a lovely smooth dip. Since I am using limited kitchen equipment for the length of this food budget experiment I mashed and mashed and mashed and mashed the beans with a fork. It too about 15 minutes to get it pasty and then I added the remaining ingredients. The consistency is perfectly fine, but it is not smooth. The flavor is fantastic though! Make it but use a food processor or blender unless you prefer a rustic feel to your food.
It is great with carrots, with triscuit and hopefully with pita.
I was thinking "rustic" at the mash and mash and mash part. So, now ends my being able to call my friend any time, since I might interrupt the two games he watches at once!
ReplyDeleteYep! Now serious weekend activity begins. TheHub and in Son2 go to all the home games so I don't have to do this often. Meanwhile as I reply I am watching Stanford and Kansas State
DeleteI cannot believe the post I put up over 12 hours ago still does not show on your blog! What is wrong with blogger? (rhetorical)
ReplyDeleteI never met a hummus I didn't like - and this sounds like a winner. Perhaps even worth watching football (sorry, not a fan). Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeletethe taste test will begin in the morning. I smell a football breakfast followed by a food orgy. I caved and bought 2 unplanned purchases and even paid lake grocery store inflated prices. Monday and Tuesday are going to be lean. Glad I froze all leftovers last week
DeleteI'm with Elephant's Child-love hummus. This sounds so easy. If you have more beans stocked with some tomatoes and corn, try Cowboy Caviar-basically beans, diced tomatoes, corn, with as much chili powder or other seasoning as you have and like. Best on Tortilla chips, but I was thinking about your challenge and though how good with homemade flour tortillas, then cut in smaller pieces and baked inot a chip. Might give it a try myself. i think I'm going to like leanring yor success-you are expanding my whole way of thinking about frugal cooking.
ReplyDeleteFor so many people frugal equals Spartan . I think there is a world of delicious possibilities but it takes different thinking and some ( gulp) time.
DeleteLooking forward to more like this--easy with on-hand ingredients.
ReplyDeleteI love easy. On hand is critical right now as I use every single bit of food
ReplyDeleteYum! I made a black bean hummus recently which was good but which took the flavors in a direction I wasn't really excited about. Your recipe seems a little more southwestern in style, which is what I think I really want. Today I'm soaking and cooking beans and tomato sauce while the games are on in the background. We're pretty excited for the season starting, too!
ReplyDeleteWe had total immersion yesterday and it was great!
ReplyDeleteThe hummus was really tasty but the kefir dip was the big winner. Thankfully we have Texas/ Notre Dame tonight and Florida State Monday night to eat all the remaining food.
Happy footballing!!!!! And you are still an amazing cook even with a limited budget.
ReplyDeleteI am a pretty decent cook, but I find as the week goes on and the money disappears our meals kind of suck!
DeleteWe graduated from Appalachian State. Heartbreaking loss. Go Mountaineers!!
ReplyDelete