Hummus is typically made with
garbanzo beans, but for Spring, I love the bright green of edamame, young soybeans.
Cook a bag of frozen edamame in their pods as directed on the package. Rinse the pods to cool them, then shell the soybeans. Each bean has a thin, transparent "skin" that you also have to remove. This takes a little bit of time, so do it on the couch with a couple of bowl on your lap while you're watching Rachael Ray make a fool of herself again.
Puree the shelled and skinned edamame in a food processor with about 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 minced clove garlic, ½ c. water (or you can use whatever liquid you want, like chicken or vegetable stock), and about 2 Tbsp. sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste. You could also add tahini paste, which is an ingredient in regular hummus, but I didn't because sesame oil is fairly strong. Use more liquid to thin the hummus to the consistency you desire.
You can either serve the edamame hummus in a large bowl as a dip, or plop tiny spoonfuls on toasted flatbread, garnished with sesame seeds. Assure your guests that it's not wasabi, because that's what it looks like.
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