Sprout & Pea

A while ago, I came across this recipe for edamame dip in Bon Appetit and it has since become a sta­ple snack, espe­cially for when I have guests over.  The best part about this recipe is that aside from the edamame, it requires ingre­di­ents that I gen­er­ally already have lay­ing around my house — all of which are good for you.

Instead of pita chips, I like to toast up some Ezekiel Tor­tillas and break them into pieces, per­fect for dip­ping.  The fla­vors go really nicely together.  Here is the Bon Appetit recipe.  I like to spice it up with a lit­tle Adobo and sub­sti­tute veg­etable broth for half of the cook­ing liq­uid to give it a lit­tle more flavor.

1 12oz bag frozen shelled edamame, unthawed
1/​4 cup olive oil
2 tea­spoons fresh lemon juice
3 table­spoons minced fresh basil plus sprigs for garnish

Cook edamame in large saucepan of boil­ing salted water until ten­der, 5 min­utes. Drain, reserv­ing 3/​4 cup cook­ing liquid.

Place edamame, oil, and 1/​4 cup reserved cook­ing liq­uid in proces­sor. Blend until smooth, driz­zling in 1/​4 cup cook­ing liq­uid and lemon juice. Sea­son dip with salt and pep­per. Blend in more cook­ing liq­uid by table­spoon­fuls if too thick. Add minced basil; pulse until basil is just mixed in (do not puree)

There are all kinds of reports on whether or not soy does more harm than good for your body.  While a cer­tain level of soy con­sump­tion has been found to aid in pre­vent­ing can­cers and heart dis­ease, some research says that too much soy can have the adverse effect.  Per­son­ally, i choose to avoid processed soy (with the excep­tion of some occa­sional tofu) and any processed foods for that mat­ter.  Edamame is the best source of soy as it’s straight from the plant.  They con­tain omega 3 fatty acids, which have many health ben­e­fits that you can read more about here.