Tepary Bean Whipped Hummus

(Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free)

I think my second recipe should be simpler. I got a pointed request for a “chili with fewer steps, please,” so I’ll be getting to that before the cold season ends. But for today, I’m looking at a (really easy!) sort of hummus, made from one of my absolute favorite beans: tepary beans. It might be fair to say I’m in love with tepary beans. I was reluctant to use them so early in the year because I didn’t want to use them up, but happily there are multiple kinds of teparies. Native Seeds/SEARCH offers 28 different varieties of seeds; at the moment they’re only selling two teparies for eating (their offerings vary from season to season and year to year), but that’s okay because I keep things. And dry beans are made to be kept. From years past I still have a stash of teparies: white, blue speckled, and Paiute mixed. For my hummus, I’m using brown tepary beans.

First, a word on hummus. Technically it’s not, unless it’s made with garbanzos. I just wanted to preempt an uproar from the semantic diehards among you.

And some words on teparies. Though they’re little heard of outside the American Southwest, and not so much within that area anymore, they were a staple for the Native Americans living in that part of the world. They were first cultivated by the Hohokam Indians in Arizona – from 300-1200 a.d. These little beans have quite a bit of history under their pods, and it makes them even more remarkable for being around today, in our culture of processed food. Teparies are particularly suited to the American desert, because they love heat, drought, alkaline soils and relentless sun, and they mature relatively quickly – in about 85 days.

Teparies have been featured in the research that Native Seeds/SEARCH is doing on the effects of a traditional diet on Type II diabetes in Native American populations. I go into this a bit on the Where to Buy Beans page, but essentially NS/S has observed that the surge of Type II diabetes in that population directly corresponds to the rise of processed foods. The theory is that the Native American body evolved alongside the traditional Native American plants, and so their bodies have been shaped around these foods. Certainly, European Americans aren’t faring well on a diet of fast food either, but it is true that we may be more acclimated to heavier foods because we evolved in a colder climate. Very interesting stuff, and I’ll talk about it off and on as I move through this year.

One more fascinating thing about teparies. Recent studies conducted in the US and in Mexico indicate that lectin and other compounds in tepary beans may be a useful treatment for halting the growth of cancer. I don’t quite get this, because my understanding of lectin in plants is that it encourages them to grow, and concentrations of lectin thin out as the plant evolves from bean into mulit-leaved green thing. I’ll check with Simon, the science (and computer) wiz in our household, and see what he knows about that.

The recipe: Teparies are very dense beans. What’s more, they maintain their texture and density even when well-cooked, so at first it might seem counterintuitive to use them in a hummus recipe. I love their rich, nutty flavor though, and the fact that they are higher in protein and fiber, and lower in fat than other dry beans (which accounts for their density). To lighten things up, then, I added a cooked potato and whipped it up in the food processor along with the beans. It occurs to me that a sweet potato might work too, and would not dilute the brown color of the beans. It would also add beta-carotene. Next time I’ll try that and see how it goes. If one of you tries it first, please let me know.

As far as the garlic, I know what you’re thinking. “Holy (your word pick goes here), she’s putting 6 garlic cloves in with a few cups of beans? Between the breath and the intestinal distress, no one will want to be my friend…” Trust me here. I’m going to tell you something about garlic: the longer you cook it, the milder and softer the flavor (and the smell) becomes. Honest. If you sauté the garlic until it’s ghostly pale, the pungent bite will segue into a smooth, layered flavor that will give a lift to the teparies. Of course, there is some debate about whether cooked garlic packs the antioxidant and antibiotic punch that raw garlic does, but much of the consensus seems to be that if you crush the garlic and let it sit for a few minutes before cooking, it will retain most of its health benefits.

What else? For the olive oil, you want to use the best stuff you have. The oil isn’t cooked and so its sharp, citrus flavors will really shine through. I served this on crackers, but it’s lovely on crostini, or even as a sandwich spread. If you can’t come by teparies, go ahead and experiment with a bean other than the chickpea. And let me know what you find.

Tepary Bean Whipped Hummus Recipe

1.5 cups dry brown tepary beans
1 medium yellow potato
6 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 large lemon
3 tablespoons tahini (sesame butter)
1 tablespoon plus 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling
½ cup fresh parsley
Water – added at ¼ cup at a time
Salt and pepper to taste — you’ll have taste and adjust to your liking

Soak the tepary beans in water. You can either soak them overnight or you can cover them in water, bring them to a boil, turn off the heat and let them sit for one hour. Then cook tepary beans until soft, about 1 ½ hours (teparies take awhile – that density again). Beans expand about 2.5 times when they are cooked, so use enough water – if you have too much you can always pour it off later, but you can’t unburn the beans! Cut the potato into large slices – you can leave the skin on — and add it to the water at the end of the cooking. Cook it until it’s soft, about 10 minutes.

Saute the minced garlic in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until it’s see-through but not crispy. Place all ingredients except the water in a food processor. Puree until well mixed, and assess the dryness of your hummus. If necessary (and it likely will be) add ¼ cup of water and blend again. Continue to add water until you have a smooth, creamy consistency. Adjust salt and pepper, then serve. I like to garnish it with garlic stuffed green olives, but you can get creative here — parsley, capers, fresh carrots, tomato slices… Before serving, drizzle olive oil over hummus-topped crackers.

Note: the tepary beans came from Native Seeds/SEARCH. Next recipe we’ll be featuring Lina Sisco Bird Egg beans, from Seed Saver’s Exchange.