individual crudités // white bean basil hummus

I hosted our bi-monthly book club gathering last week. If you know me, you are well aware how much I love hosting parties; amazing food, cocktails, music and conversation. The best part about entertaining is being able to see to it your guests go home happy and full with a big smile on their faces & leave talking about when the next gathering will be. Our book club gatherings not only focus on the book content and conversation surrounding the book but also the good food that goes along with the meeting. Easy to eat, conversation friendly food is a must for book club - these individual crudites with white bean basil hummus is the perfect fit for any gathering, plus you totally bypass the double dippers out there!

See all that beautiful produce? Yup, straight from my garden - I have always considered August to be the peak of the garden season. Flowers are in full bloom with a heady perfume, tomatoes are ripening on the vine, cucumbers, bush beans and carrots are still producing nicely. Tell me, are those royal purple burgundy beans not the most beautiful bush beans you ever did see?

This is the first year that I have successfully grown an abundance of basil- in years past it was a hit or miss, most of the basil being enjoyed by the slugs instead of being made into pesto or eaten alongside summer tomatoes.  I truly have more basil than I know what to do with, which means I have become a bit more creative where & when I sneak basil  into everyday  meals. White Bean Basil Hummus, was one answer - a very good one indeed.

The hummus is the perfect dipper for individual crudites - the hummus is sturdier than a creamy dressing or dip which helps to secure the veggies in place and ensures you get plenty of dip on each veggie.

My Gram was a little confused on how these individual crudites work, instead of taking a cup she simply took a few veggies out of the cup...and left the cup, you gotta love Grams'. 

I left the Purple Beans raw, cooking them would have resulted in a loss of that beautiful purple color; if you prefer you can quickly blanch the beans then arrange in the cups. Any mix of veggies work well, in the past I have used mini skewers for 3 cherry tomatoes for each glass - they were super cute.

Our book club pick this past month was The Kitchen House, a really good read that I would recommend- the entire group actually enjoyed the book, a rarity that a book receives 100% positive reviews, we have a very opinionated group. The next book club pick is Gone Girl, do any of you have any amazing reads you would recommend or have read Gone Girl or Kitchen House- what did you think?

Individual Crudites with White Bean Basil Hummus

makes 6 crudite' cups

you will need:

1 can white beans (about 1/2 cups)  (I used butter beans)

1 small garlic clove

juice of 1 lemon

pinch of red pepper flakes

healthy pinch of salt

handful of basil leaves

healthy drizzle of olive oil- about 1 tbsp

Variety of Veggies

Small juice glasses for serving

assembly:

In a food process place all ingredients sans veggies and process until smooth.

Prep your veggies and cut into easy to eat spears. Place about 1 rounded tablespoon of hummus into the bottom of each glass, arrange veggies into the glasses & serve!

Leftover hummus is great as a sandwich spread with roasted za'taar eggplant!