(Steelers) Black Bean Hummus

I eat so much hummus I should just start growing garbanzo beans in my backyard.

Maybe invest in a hummus factory?

All of the above?

It is a rare day when I don’t go to the grocery store and buy massive amounts of hummus. It is one of the few things I can buy in bulk and know, without any doubt, that I will always finish all of it. It is pretty much my number one, go to vegan staple.

So why have I never just made my own? I don’t think I realized it was so easy.

Yesterday was a Steelers Sunday and we were invited to a friend’s house for a “Steelers Party” complete with yellow and black…everything. In situations like this, one has to make something to go with the theme!

*racking brain & searching the internet*

A ha! Spicy black bean hummus! Serve it in a yellow bowl AND complete.

There are a million hummus recipes out there but since my party hosts love spicy food, I thought I would gladly oblige and make a hummus with a kick.

Really basic ingredients and some powerful spices really make this hummus pop. You can adjust the spices as necessary to make it more or less spicy but I found what is listed is pretty good for a nice (but spicy) flavor.

Head after the jump for the recipe and more pictures.

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The Vegan Paula Deen

I am obsessed with food shows. I absolutely love the food network. When I was in college my roommate and I would stay up way too late watching “Unwrapped” or “Paula’s Home Cooking.”

For years I was pretty much a Food Network addict. There should be treatment for people like me.

People always say that when you watch television shows about food it just creates this reaction that makes you want to eat, even when you are not hungry.

That would probably explain the hundreds of midnight trips to the Super Wal-Mart in college.

My addiction has waned slightly as I have gotten older. I still love it but I just don’t watch it as much as I once did. One of the things that frustrates me is that out of the hundreds of hours of programming on the Food Network and on other networks, there is absolutely no programming devoted to vegan (or even vegetarian) cuisine. I have seen a couple of shows here and there, but nothing that you think of as the Paula Deen or Rachel Ray of vegan cooking. Seems silly, right?

I humbly nominate myself to take this torch for the cruelty free community. So if any of you food network executives happen to be reading this, I will gladly meet with you. Send me an email, I have LOTS of ideas.

Picture it, Paula Deen and me smoking some tofu and baking a Vegan Chocolate Death Cake. Hey y’all…

*chubby vegan dreams*

Anyway, I am pleased to report that I saw this latest recipe on Good Morning America. So, thank you GMA for throwing in some vegan food in a segment devoted to chili. We appreciate it!

This is another Crockpot recipe that is really a cut, open, put in the pot and walk away type of thing. It is simple, cheap to make, and certainly warm you up on a cold January day.

I would like to point out that it’s good when it is right out of the pot, but I think it is even better the next day. I used the leftovers for a quesadilla, which I will post later.

Follow me after the jump for the recipe and some preparation photos.

And best (vegan) dishes, from my kitchen to yours….

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Easy Vegan Friday

To beans or not to beans… that is the question.

I just love black beans. When I was a wee chub, not quite flourished into the chubby vegan I am today, I was a server at Chili’s. Yes, the fried steak, 2000 calorie fried onion, and totally non vegan friendly Chili’s. Gross 

Our default side on all quesadillas and fajitas was rice and black beans. When I first started I remember thinking that the black beans just looked like a pile of gross on the plate.

Until the day I first tried it.  *angels singing*

I was opened up to a world of delicious. My prior beans experience was only with Boston Baked Beans. Since I grew up in Boston, I guess this makes sense.

My love for black beans remains today and it is one of the easiest things to make. Canned, made fresh, in a soup, alone, or with a giant burrito; I will tear up some black beans wherever or whenever I can.

I found this amazingly easy Crockpot recipe on Fat Free Vegan, an awesome vegan website with thousands of great vegan recipes.  It’s so simple it hurts.

1 bag of black beans + 1 jar of salsa + water + Crockpot = DELICIOUS

Since it is a Crockpot recipe it does take a little bit of time but it is super worth it.

Check out the recipe and more pictures after the jump. Beans for all!

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