Edamame

This post is dedicated to a one of my favorite snacks edamame.   Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean.  It is harvested at the peak of its ripening.  You can buy it in many different forms, I usually buy a bag of frozen, pre-cooked edamame (the best price I can find is at Trader Joes) so when I want a snack, all I have to do is thaw a bowl full and then I can pick the edamame beans out of the pods and snack away! Edamame is high in protein and has been used in East Asia as a major source of protein for over 2000 years.   If you can find them at a good price, I definitely recommend trying them.  

Edamame has many uses besides snacks.  I have seen a lot recipes recently with edamame added to pasta dishes.  I've also had them in salads and stir fry's and it adds a great flavor and of course, your protein. 

I've had a bag and a half of frozen edamame in my fridge for months so I finally decided to use them. I put them in a large bowl to defrost and tonight I decided to make edamame hummus with my big bowl of edamame.  The recipe was really simple, it was basically my chick pea hummus recipe with edamame substituted.  The only thing I did differently than the recipe was I added an extra clove of garlic and instead of coriander I used hot paprika for a little kick.  I read some of the reviews of the recipe and the majority of the reviewers raved about the recipe, but a few said it was a little bland.  The hummus has a beautiful, bright green color and I'm excited to give it a try tomorrow after all of the flavors have settled overnight. 

Since we got our new food processor I've been making hummus about once a week because we eat it so fast.  I dip a lot of things in my hummus like crackers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and celery. I also use hummus on my sandwiches and wraps instead of mustard.  I intend to use the edamame hummus for the same things.  

We've been making some great meals over the past few days so once we get the photos loaded on to the computer, there are posts to come!  Also, we are cooking a nice dinner for Valentine's day so you'll definitely get to read about that. Stay tuned!