Tag: wheat

Any Bean Hummus with Miso

One of my favorite things to do is cook with pantry staples — I love it when all the ingredients I need are already in my kitchen. So recently when I was in the mood for hummus, I decided to make my own. Since I didn’t have any chickpeas, I used black beans instead. Also I’ve been experimenting with making my own miso (and using it to add umami to lots of different dishes), so I threw that in too. The hummus turned out great, and I’m convinced the recipe would work well with just about any type of bean.

Admittedly, miso and tahini may not be staples for most people, but they are great to have on hand, if only to make more hummus!

Ingredients

1 can beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp tahini
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp lemon juice (about one lemon)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white miso
1/2 tsp cumin
salt

In a medium bowl, combine beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, miso and cumin. Use an immersion blender (or food processor) to puree until smooth. Add more oil or a little water if needed for desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

Pictured: Pyrex Butterfly Gold 443 Cinderella Mixing Bowl, Corning Ware Wheat W-43-B Petite Pan, Corning Ware Wheat W-1-B Casserole

Thrifted Find: Corning Ware Wheat

Corning Ware’s wheat pattern dates back to the 1960s, and is the subject of much speculation among collectors. Evidently it was originally intended to be one of the first Corning Ware patterns, but was supplanted by blue cornflower for whatever reason, and then released later on. The details are a little fuzzy. In any case, I was excited to find one in a thrift store recently, as I’d never seen the pattern in real life.

There was just one problem: I was thrifting while visiting family out of state, and anything I bought would have to make it home by airplane. I could wrap it in dirty laundry and lug it in my carry-on, or even ship it to myself, but that all seemed like too much trouble. I convinced myself that taking a picture would be enough, and moved on.

Fast-forward a couple days: Back at home, I was reorganizing my Corning Ware cabinet and discovered the very same wheat dish on the shelf. I thought to myself, “Good thing I didn’t buy that dish in Washington, because I owned it already and must have forgotten!” I told my husband about it and he laughed — typical me, my brain is a sieve these days and I’ve been known to experience thrifting amnesia.

Then I told the same funny story to my uncle, who had been in the thrift store with me back in Washington. “That’s funny indeed,” he said, because he had gone back to the store, bought the dish, and colluded with my husband to sneak it home for me. They were wondering how long it would take me to notice it. At first I didn’t believe him — he’s a known BS artist — but after calling my husband to confirm, I had a good laugh. It’s been a long time since I’ve been truly surprised by something, and this surprise was a pretty good one.

The whole experience made me feel so loved — people going out of their way to do something special for me — and that’s something I will forever associate with this dish.