Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a great dip and spread. It is made of healthy ingredients, not the common sour cream, processed cheeses, sugars and mayonnaise that make up most veggie dips and cracker spreads. Costco has a delicious hummus, but even though it advertises “all natural” on the front of it’s label, it is loaded with preservatives. Iwill use it when time for food preparation is low, but the rest of the time we enjoy this from scratch version. I love to play around with the flavors. Use fresh garlic (not the old stuff that is starting to sprout, which is bitter) the more the garlic is roasted the more mellow the flavor. Raw garlic will give the hummus a really sharp flavor. If you like a sweeter spread, add a bit of honey. If you like more sesame seed flavor, add a teaspoon of dark sesame oil. Some people like more lemon juice or even some zest and some prefer garlic powder to fresh garlic. For a plain hummus, leave out the peppers or get creative and add things like jalapeno, cilantro, pine nuts, olives, sundried tomatoes, basil or just extra garlic.

15 ounce can garbanzo beans
½ cup tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
2 cloves garlic, toasted or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
14 ounce jar roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients in vita mix or food processor and puree until smooth. Refrigerate to thicken. Serve sprinkled with olive oil and paprika. Serve with vegetables, pita chips, crackers or pita bread.

This post is part of Kitchen Stewardship's October Fest Carnival of Super Foods.