Black Bean Avocado Hummus

Everyone loves hummus! It's great with chips, veggies, on sandwiches, spread on chicken, with a spoon.... you get the idea. While I was musing over hummus yesterday, I realized it's really just beans, spices, and oil. Doesn't every country use some sort of bean in their cuisine? And with that question came a glorious answer: International Hummus! Today is the first installment of my International Hummus series- Mexican hummus. I love black beans and I adore avocados, the main ingredients in this Black Bean Avocado Hummus. Here's what's in it:

Ingredients:
-One 15 oz. can of black beans (drain most of the liquid)
-3-6 cloves of garlic (to taste- how much do you like garlic?)
-1/2 an avocado or one small avocado
-small handful of cilantro (or to taste)
-lime juice (1/2 lime)
-1 tsp of each of the following: cumin, paprika, seasoned salt
-1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/4 cup of olive oil

Steps:
-Throw all of your ingredients (minus the oil) into the food processor
-Begin blending the ingredients; while blending, slowly add your olive oil to the mix
-While you are blending your ingredients, stop and take a taste: is it smooth enough? spiced enough? If it's too thick and not creamy enough, add small amounts of olive oil while you blend until it is the right texture (more lime juice can help thin it out too)

Variation tips:
-Add salsa
-Try more avocado (may need less olive oil since avocados are an oily veggie)
-Don't like raw garlic? Simmer your garlic cloves in the black bean juice to soften the cloves and remove some of the strong flavor of raw garlic.


Suggestions for use:
-Serve with chips and veggies
-Spice up your quesadilla: spread some on the tortilla before you sprinkle your cheese
-Ditch the mayo and mustard, spread this on your sandwich instead
-Spread on top of chicken breasts (like frosting) sprinkle with cheese, and bake (I haven't tried this variation, so I am unsure how the hummus will do in the oven, but it sounds like it would be delicious!)

Enjoy!!! Stay tuned: I will add updates this week on how I used my hummus.