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Sesame Cashew Chickpea Dip

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My roommate just started work and it’s making me reminisce about the early days at my first job–or rather, the first days spent outside of my first job.

I had an incredible amount of time on my hands. A lot of my friends had moved away, Erik was in Wisconsin for the summer, and I wasn’t sure what to do with myself–the typical post-college wanderangstlust. I poured a lot of my extracurricular energy into learning how to cook, experimenting with pancake recipes of all types and starting this blog. It’s hard to believe this blog is going on 3+ years of existence; it’s become a habit that’s sometimes overwhelming, but hard to shake. Kathryn wrote oh-so-eloquently about the struggles of the modern food blogger in a post that I loved; I so identify with it. And yet I miss it, now that I’m in school with not enough time for anything.

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This year has already wrought an incredible wave of change–for the good, for the mysterious. It feels good to channel all the crazy new energy into something simple, like this chickpea dip.

This dip is for the times when you don’t have tahini in your pantry–it’s just a simple blend of chickpeas, some acidity, seasoning and a creamy fat to bring things together. In the early days, all I had was peanut butter and flour; no time for tahini, especially since I didn’t know what I would use it in aside from hummus (until these came along). But now I guess we’re making time for cashew butter? You can use whatever nut butter floats your boat here (I personally like subtler ones like cashew, macadamia or even almond), but the toasted sesame oil–guh. If you don’t have it already, buy it: I promise you’ll want to use it on everything.

Felicia first inspired this hummus–after her description of it as “almost mousse-like,” I couldn’t NOT make it. And then I didn’t not make it three times after that. It’s really addicting in a subtle, umami-maximus way.

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It’s also really great for nonstop dipping of all those healthy crunchy vegetables in preparation for SPRING BREAK!!!

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Sesame Cashew Chickpea Dip

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup dried chickpeas or: 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 2 tablespoons cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • additional water to thin as needed
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • pepper

Instructions

  • Soak chickpeas overnight, or up to ~3 days (if you soak them for a shorter amount of time, you may need to cook them for longer).
  • Drain and rinse chickpeas. Boil for about 1 hour over medium heat until tender along with a pinch of baking soda to reduce general gassiness (they should double in volume to 1.5 cups after cooked). Drain and let cool, then shell chickpeas by gently pinching one side and pulling off the skin (optional, but highly recommended for ultra-smooth hummus).
  • Blend chickpeas to a powder in a food processor, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend and add additional water if needed until mixture reaches your desired consistency. Season to taste.

Notes

Inspired by this hummus.

Did you try this recipe?

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    • erika

      Ahh!! Tree nut allergies make me sad! But yes, I think so, if you have the patience to grind up the pistachios into butter! I’m sure it’d be amazing. And please, I can’t believe you’re maintaining such a beautiful blog on top of being a full-time photographer!! <33

      Reply

  3. Lynn | The Road to Honey

    I’m always up for a nice snack of hummus. . .but this one completely blows me away. It looks over-the-top creamy. . .and made with cashews???. LOVE IT! Who wants to mess with tahini. It’s such a pain to stir up and generally leaves a big tahini mess on my countertops.

    Reply

    • erika

      Ahh Lynn you are too sweet!! Seriously, I forgot what a mess tahini is. I bought some the other day and ended up scraping the entire container into my blender and blending it up for a few seconds to get everything incorporated. It worked well, but what a mess! Thanks again for the super kind words! 🙂

      Reply

  6. smallkitchenchronicles

    Oh, I hear ya, Erika! Life and balance, not an easily achieved thing but so crucial to one’s well being. But I’ve come to learn — through time — that it’s a process and I think you do wonderfully (even though at times it may feel otherwise). You and your blog are an inspiration and even though I don’t spend as much time on the internet as I used to (trying to achieve that life balance!), your little piece of the interweb is a corner I ALWAYS visit and enjoy. Much love to you, Erika, and just think, Spring Break … soon! =)

    Reply

    • erika

      Oh Christina! You are just the best. Bravo for working towards that life balance via unplugging (def a necessity for me). Your kind words are going to carry me through these next few days until GLORIOUS! SPRING! BREAK!!! <333

      Reply

  7. Katie (The Muffin Myth)

    Girl, I hear you. Trying to balance it all is so overwhelming at times. Back in the day when I first moved out on my own and lived in a crummy basement suite with roommates while I was in writing school I used to make hummus with peanut butter all the dang time. Tahini was too expensive! Plus my parents bought me costco sized tubs of peanut butter (oh how I miss those!). Cashew butter is so much more refined! Will definitely have to give this a try very soon. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  8. Nora (A Clean Bake)

    Two things: First, this is a brilliant substitution. Tahini is EXPENSIVE man. Not that cashews aren’t, obviously, but man is it nice to think there is a cheaper alternative. Cashews make everything so creamy and light. This dip looks SO good. You know what else would be awesome? Za’atar sprinkled on top. Let’s make it happen.

    And two: I’m so behind on my feed reader that I totally missed Laura’s wonderful post. I sympathize with her (and you) completely. Thanks for sharing it 🙂

    Reply

  9. Nancy @ gottagetbaked

    Since it was described as “mousse” I don’t blame you for making it! And then making it another few times because this chickpea dip looks delicious. And beautiful. I love that you took a food that’s super difficult to photograph and created such gorgeous shots. I just read Kathryn’s post about blogging and I agree whole heartedly. Since I don’t blog for work, I’ve given myself the permission to simply say “eff it” when I don’t feel like baking/blogging/writing. It’s not the end of the world. I don’t want to post just for post’s sake. Thanks for introducing me to Kathryn’s blog! Enjoy spring break – you deserve a rest!

    Reply

  11. Kathryn

    I’m so impressed with the way that you’ve been manage to balance blogging (+ everything else in your life!) while at business school – it’s a real inspiration. This dip? So creamy + rich + perfect.

    Reply

  12. cynthia

    I LOVE this!!! It sounds so so good, lady. And these lovely, thoughtful words resonate so much. I’m glad you haven’t “shaken” this blog habit just yet! I love this space so much 🙂 Hope you’re hanging in there okay — I know you’re rocking b-school! Thanks for sharing this amazing dip!

    Reply