Edamame hummus

Several weeks ago we attended a fabulous vegan dinner as part of our Madison vegetarian meet-up group. (Although this is a vegetarian, not vegan, group, all the food served is vegan so that everyone in the group can eat it.) It was catered by local chef Jen Gaber, owner of Nutshell Catering. I still remember when Jen, as chef at The Ivy Inn, created a series of Sunday vegetarian brunch buffets, each featuring food from a different region of the world. We spent many happy Sundays lingering over a wonderful meal, pretending it was normal to find fabulous vegan food in Madison. The Ivy Inn is long gone, but Jen is still here, cooking great food.

I knew what the menu included when I signed up for the dinner, but by the time I attended I had no idea what we were having - my memory can be like that sometimes. It was a four course meal and the appetizers were out when we arrived. One of the appetizers was a bowl of green dip that I assumed was made with avocado, surrounded by toasted pita points. When I tasted it, it was kind of hummus-like, but better than regular hummus. It was edamame hummus, and it was delicious. I couldn't quite figure out what was in it, but when I got home, I wrote out a recipe I thought would make a similar dip. A friend visited after work today for a glass of wine and an appetizer, and I finally got to try out my version of edamame hummus — maybe not as great as Jen's, but not bad.

Edamame hummus

• 2 cups shelled edamame, cooked (I used frozen)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup tahini
• juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried, ground coriander
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Sauté the onion for a minute or two until translucent. Add the garlic and cook about 3o seconds.
2. Place edamame, onion, garlic, tahini and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until well- combined. It doesn't have to be completely smooth. Add coriander and salt. Pulse to mix. (Taste before adding all the salt as you might not need it all.) Grind pepper over the bowl and pulse to mix.
3. Serve with veggies, chips, pita or crackers.

Notes:
1. My tahini was kind of weird and thin so everything blended up easily. You may need to add a tablespoon of water if your mix is too thick to process.
2. If you live in the Madison area and need a caterer, you should call Jen Gaber!