Za'atar Butter Bean Hummus

Some of the best things in the kitchen happen in five minutes with whatever is left in the fridge. This is one of them.

Creamy heirloom butter beans blended smooth with garlic, lemon, and olive oil, finished with a generous shower of za'atar. It is everything you love about hummus but lighter, silkier, and honestly a little more interesting. The za'atar brings a herby, tangy, slightly nutty quality that pairs beautifully with the delicate, buttery flavor of the beans. Together they are something you will want on everything.

Use it as a dip with warm bread or raw vegetables, spread it thickly on toast, or spoon it onto a plate as a bed for grilled salmon or roasted vegetables. This is also the perfect way to use up a handful of cooked beans left over from last night's dinner. Five ingredients, one blender, ten minutes. Done.

The Bean: Baby Butter Beans, Grown by Chris Capaul in Sacramento Valley

The secret to a truly silky, luxurious bean spread is starting with a truly great bean, and our Baby Butter Beans are exactly that.

Also known as baby lima, these small heirloom beans are our best-selling bean and everyone's favorite, and it is easy to see why. They have a naturally creamy, tender texture and a delicate buttery flavor that blends into the smoothest puree you have ever made. Their broth is light-bodied, fresh, and herbal, and they carry bright, simple flavors like lemon, garlic, and olive oil beautifully.

Chris Capaul's family has been farming California's Sacramento Valley since 1915, and he still has his great-grandfather's original horse-drawn bean cutter. As farms across the region grew bigger through consolidation, Chris held the line, growing his Baby Butter Beans in careful rotation with rice, a method that nurtures the soil naturally and produces beans far richer in flavor than anything you will find at the grocery store. Non-GMO, grown without glyphosate, and harvested fresh each fall.

Bean alternative: White tepary beans work beautifully here too, with a slightly earthier, nuttier flavor that pairs just as well with za'atar.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked butter beans or white tepary beans
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon za'atar

Directions:

Put the butter beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Put in a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil and za'atar.  

*A Note On Our Recipes:

Every recipe here was developed and tested using farm-fresh beans from Foodocracy and Primary Beans. Older beans, anything past a year in your pantry or beans from other sources may need more coaxing. Give them a soak and add extra cooking time, and they'll get there eventually.

ZA'ATAR BUTTER BEAN HUMMUS

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Creamy, delicious butter beans are pared with zesty za'atar for a delectable spin on traditional hummus. With just a few ingredients it comes together in minutes in the blender and is the prefect way to use up a handful of cooked beans from last night's salad. Use it as a dip, a spread or a bed for grilled salmon.

Author:

Lisa Riznikove

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked butter beans

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• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon za'atar

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Directions

1. Put the butter beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Put in a serving bowl and drizzle with olive oil and za'atar. 

Recipe Note

Every recipe here was developed and tested using farm-fresh beans from Foodocracy and Primary Beans. Older beans, anything past a year in your pantry, or beans from other sources may need more coaxing. Give them a soak and add extra cooking time, and they'll get there eventually.