I know what you’re thinking. Garbanzo puree? Um, hi, that would be hummus.
And if I did just accurately predict your thoughts, that was exactly my reaction when I saw “chickpea puree” on the menu at a fancy wine-tasting dinner last summer. But actually, it’s not entirely true. It doesn’t even matter if it’s true, come to think of it, because without question, I will eat anything that bears even a slight resemblance to my beloved fluffy mashed potatoes, and this creamy, garlicky, protein-packed blend fits just that description, except it’s about ten times more healthy.
Quickly, for the critics, why is this not hummus? No tahini, no lemon juice, and everything is heated together before blending, softening that garlic edge that hummus so often wields. Happy now? Good. Let’s move on.
The puree would be awesome as a dip, don’t get me wrong. However, I like it as an easy dinner, topped with roasted cauliflower and a chunky Greek salad. It hints at summer, without requiring any super hardcore seasonal ingredients. It also doesn’t require the use of any major equipment except for a small saucepan and an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, don’t run out and buy one just yet (unless you’re super pumped to support me by purchasing multi-use kitchen tools on Amazon, in which case–buy one!). A regular blender, super blender, or food processor will work great, but I prefer throwing the immersion blender attachment right into the dishwasher, not spending ten minutes scrubbing my blender so tomorrow’s smoothie doesn’t taste like garlic.
The full dinner in the pictures is part of a personal chef “test run” I did this week. Maybe you know, maybe you don’t, that I’m also a personal chef. I like to run through the menus I customize for clients at home first, if I have time, to work out the kinks, get an idea of how long the cooking process will take, and see how much groceries cost. I discovered this meal is not only tasty and pretty enough to offer my clients, but it’s also an awesome dinner to make at home during the week. The entire dinner doesn’t take longer than 45 minutes, as long as you’re multi-tasking. Roast cauliflower and Greek salad are rather self-explanatory, but I have to credit The Sprouted Kitchen for surefire vegetable roasting tips and Smitten Kitchen for her exact Greek salad combo.
Like I said here, taking on more personal chef clients is the reason you might see a little less frequent posting on the blog, but I’ll try to post at least a couple times a week, so stick with me! Based on this week’s cooking, I have a couple more springy (season, not texture), easy dinner recipes in the queue, and one “classic” gluten-free savory tart that I just updated to seriously simplify the cooking process, making it a feasible addition to your Easter table.
- 3 C (2 cans) cooked garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 6 T vegetable broth or stock
- 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ½ t dried oregano
- 2 T olive oil (your best)
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Combine beans, 3 tablespoons liquid, garlic, and oregano in small, lidded saucepan (see notes). Stir to combine, cover, and heat over medium 5 to 10 minutes, shaking gently once or twice.
- Once warm, remove from heat and use immersion blender to puree completely (using an immersion blender will result in a just slightly textured puree, as pictured). If mixture is very thick and difficult to blend, add more liquid a tablespoon at a time. Stir in olive oil, plus plenty of salt and pepper, to taste.
If using an immersion blender, it's important that you use a small (1 to 1.5 qts) saucepan. Anything larger and the mixture will be too shallow to blend safely.
If not concerned about keeping it vegan, butter will substitute well for olive oil.
Note: This page contains affiliate links. It does NOT contain sponsored content. Affiliate links (to products I recommend, on Amazon) offset my ingredient and website maintenance costs, so I can keep bringing you fluffy recipes like this one. Thanks!
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