Tart basil & white bean dressing, and one way to use it

I’ve only just discovered the deliciousness and versatility of white bean (otherwise known as cannellini bean hummus), which I reckon opens up waaay more opportunities for awesome vegan options in the dip and dressings department. I was lazy lucky enough to pick some up pre-made which makes this dressing (or dip if you use less vinegar/lemon juice) a bit less effort, but of course you’re welcome to make it from scratch too.

Basil from the community garden. Storage tip from Pauline who runs the garden: Pick “stems” of basil like a bunch of flowers and place in a tall glass of water. Makes your basil last over a week!

Basically (and honestly, you don’t need a recipe for this, just willing tastebuds), you blitz the white bean hummus with a generous amount of basil (parsley could work too) and loads of mouth-puckery stuff to thin it – take your pick from lemon juice or vinegars (I used plain old white and a dash of sherry). I also added miso because I’m on a miso-adding craze at the moment (it adds a little umami to everything, and also happens to be crazily good for you and cheap…what’s not to love?!). Or you could add plain yogurt along with some salt to round it all out. Then if you want you can stir in some olive oil at the end. You can of course keep it less tart, but I happened to have lots of whole grainy earthy bitterness in the salad I was using it in, so I wanted plenty of tartness to balance it out. Also I do have a tendency to prefer acidy tasting things. Fair warning has been issued.

Since I had no idea how addictive this dressing was going to be, I don’t *actually* have a picture of it, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying it. Instead I cooked up some bulgur (you could use another small easy-to-cook-grain you like, eg. couscous, millet, quinoa), and added raw shredded carrots and red cabbage for a refreshing crunch. Slivers of green radicchio made it in there, but you couldn’t really taste it in the end (you could use parsley instead, or mint if you like). I then half-smooshed some canned white beans, dumped them into the dressing so it’d niggle into the nooks and crannies of my beans, then mixed it all up with the rest of my salad. It lasted ok for the next day but it’s still nicer the day of making.

Clickalicious

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