hummus say, haven't we met before?

oh hummus...my favorite dip evar. :D this time around, decided to make a slow-roasted red pepper version. i probably could've done the peppers faster but i didn't think about it and i was multi-tasking so it worked out. :) this was awesome with the second round of pita chips i made. enjoy!

 
Smokey Slow-Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
(makes about 2-3 cups)

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed with half can of the liquid reserved
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 medium red bell pepper
2-3 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp tahini
2 tsp smoked paprika
a couple dashes of onion powder
a couple dashes of garlic powder
water
salt and pepper to taste
sumac and parsley for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take the bell pepper and cut in half. Remove core, stem, and seeds and place skin-side up on a foil lined baking sheet. Roast for 55 minutes then remove from the oven. Carefully, bring up the foil from the corners and make a sealed tent over the peppers and let sit for ten minutes. Afterwards, remove and discard the skin and then place peppers in the blender/food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients in the blender/food processor and pulse to combine. If needed, adjust consistency with water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a little sumac, and a little bit of chopped Italian parsley. Serve!

tasting the garden.

made hummus today! after a long hiatus of not making it for a while, got inspired by this recipe but decided to add a few extra things in it for an even more garden-y flavor. i ended up with a nice, light hummus with the taste i was definitely aiming for! be forewarned tho...the measurements for the veggies are vague for a reason. more room to customize!

 

Vegetable Garden Hummus

2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed with half can of the liquid reserved
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
handful of chopped red onion
handful of baby carrots
handful of chopped yellow bell pepper
handful of italian parsley
2-3 tbsp lime juice
2-3 tbsp tahini
2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cellery salt
a couple dashes of onion powder
a couple dashes of garlic powder
water
salt and pepper to taste
toasted pine nuts for garnish

Combine everything in a blender/food processor and adjust consistency with water. season with salt and pepper to taste. garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle of sweet paprika, toasted pine nuts, and a little bit of chopped italian parsley.

makes a little over 2 cups.

curry me home tonight.

i went to a farmer's market this weekend and got to taste some awesome local food. it's the last of the season for my favorite fruit, the fuji apples, and i was fortunate enough to get a handful of them. i'm hoping that there'll be some more next weekend as those apples were unbelievably sweet! another interesting thing i got to try was a raw kale salad from one of the organic/vegan food trucks. it was basically kale, grated raw sweet potato, flavored brown rice, and a curry dressing. i didn't really care for brown rice at the time so i basically just got a bunch of leaves, some shreds of potato, and the dressing for about six bucks. geez...talk about a rip off. :/

i can't really complain too much...i did opt out of the rice. but what made the purchase a little bit worth while was the awesome curry dressing that it had on it. i decided to try and replicate it, and snazzed up the kale to make it a little bit more interesting. i took ispiration from the raw project as a starting base. :)

 
Savory Curry Dressing
(makes approx 1 1/2 cup of dressing)

5 pieces of baby carrots
2-3 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
1-2 tsp curry powder (measure to taste)
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper (i used a three pepper medley grinder, about 5 turns)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1-2 pinches of kosher salt
1/2-1 tsp minced ginger (measure to taste)
1 tsp honey
2 tsp tahini (i used joyvu brand)
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp lime juice (i used the bottled kind)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/8 cup coconut milk (not canned)
1/4 cup olive oil

place all ingredients in a food processor/grinder and process until oils are well blended and the carrots are chopped fine. refrigerate for one hour before serving.

note: the dressing does get a bit thick in the fridge. let stand at room temperature for about thirty minutes before serving. you could probably serve this a little bit warm too! :D

and the verdict? damn good, if i say so myself. i like the curry taste a little stronger so i went with the full two teaspoons. it was exactly what i was looking for. and the kale salad mix was definitely more to my liking. it was basically just a whole single bunch of kale, chopped up. then i added an entire package of pre-made broccoli slaw and some left over romain that was getting close to the core. crunchy and lots of interesting texture. i do find, tho, that the kale has to soak the dressing first so that it'll soften it up a bit. and that a little dressing goes a long way.

oh, and that yogurt and lime DO NOT MIX. yeas, i know it would curdle, but i didn't think about it while i was in my "mad scientist" mode. although, right before it curdled, the taste of it was awesome! next time (if i wanted a yogurt based dressing) i'd take out the tahini and lime juice, sub half a cup of honey greek yogurt, and see what that tastes like. yay for healthy salads!

hummus say, sir...i'm in love!

more hummus love. must be going on a hummus shtick or something...can't get enough of the stuff especially since i know how easy it is to make it!! this time around i followed (very loosely) this recipe for sumac and smoked paprika hummus. well, since i like my hummus very bold in flavoring, the sumac and the paprika got upped a bit to get that taste that was floating around in my head. conclusion? this was very, very good. mmmmm.....

Sumac Paprika Hummus
(adapted from Frugal By Choice)

2 cans garbanzo beans/chickpeas
5 cloves of garlic or 2 tbs garlic minced to a paste
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tahini (i like mid-east tahini)
2 tbs of smoked paprika, plus more for sprinkling on top
1/2 tsp of sumac, plus more for sprinkling on top
dried parsley

drain garbanzo beans a reserve half a cup of liquid. in a food processor or blender, add all the ingredients exept the olive oil and blend until mixed. after a minute or so, drizzle the olive oil in with the machine is still going. add a bit of the reserved liquid if needed. once the hummus is super smooth, stop the machine and adjust seasoning to taste. when done, put hummus in a tupperware container and drizzle with additional olive oil with a sprinkle of paprika, sumac, and dried parsley on top. place in fridge for about an hour to let the flavors develop and serve with pita chips or veggies!

makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of hummus.

hummus be joking!

hummus! so easy to do...took me less than five minutes to make and now i have two weeks worth out of two cans of beans. used this recipe as a base. i didn't really follow it though. considering i just used whatever i had in the pantry, i ended up mixing garbanzo and cannellini so it's a mixed bean hummus. not wanting it plain, i added some tuscany blend spice i bought from san francisco as well as hungarian smoked paprika. the result? deliciousness.

 
Smokey Tuscun Hummus
(adapted from Simply Recipes)

2 garlic cloves, mashed and then minced (used garlic paste, about 1 tsp)
1 (15.oz) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed with half can liquid reserved
1 (15.oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup of tahini (roasted, not raw)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (or use lime juice instead)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp of salt or more to taste
1 1/2 tbsp tuscany blend spice
1 to 2 tsp hungarian smoked paprika
Pine nuts (toasted) and parsley (chopped) for garnish
water, if needed

1. In a food processor, combine the garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, 1/2 cup water, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste. (skipped this and used the blender method. use water to thin out the hummus if too thick while blending.)

2. Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley (and also additional smoked paprika).

Makes about 3 cups.