This is the ultimate sauce! Blending it with a high-powered blender will warm the sauce for serving over veggies or grain and veggie bowls. When you refrigerate the sauce, it will become thicker and make a great dipping sauce for oven-roasted french fries or sweet potato fries.
1 15-ounce can salt-free garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1½ cups water
2 ounces pitted dates (8 small Deglet Noor or 4 Medjool dates)
4 tablespoons lime juice (add zest if using fresh)
1 tablespoon unsweetened, unseasoned rice vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place garbanzo beans on a Silpat sheet or parchment paper and bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
2. Place the cooked beans in a high-speed blender with 1½ cups of the water and the remaining ingredients, and blend, using the tamper to get it to blend evenly. Mixture will begin to emulsify quickly and thicken.
Notes: It is very important that you always roast the beans first. It is the roasting that makes this delicious sauce taste like Thai peanut sauce.