Friday, July 20, 2012

Sweet Potato Hummus




I love hummus.oh yeah I do!

But it is expensive (at least for my budget) and you do not get very much in those little containers. The great thing about hummus is that you can make so many different kinds. I love the roasted red pepper and the chopped olive flavors. This recipe has sweet potatoes as the “add-in” ingredient. I just threw all the ingredients into my Vitamix and let it go.
Done in a minute.

1 can 29-oz Sweet Potatoes, drained and rinsed
1 can 15.5-oz Chickpeas, drained and rinsed (reserve 1/4 cup juice)
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Tahini Paste
2 TBS Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
2 tsp Ground Cumin
1 Garlic Clove Chopped *(1 tsp Granulated Garlic)
Season with Salt and Pepper

Drain and rinse Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas, reserving 1/4 cup juice from chickpeas (or use 1/4 cup water as replacement). Combine all ingredients in food processor except reserved juice or water and blend. If too thick add juice or water to thin out. Will stay good one week in refrigerator. I have frozen this and had no problems once thawed out

*If you are using a Vitamix and have the same issue I have with garlic cloves, replace with 1 tsp granulated garlic.

Serve with chopped veggies, on chips, over black beans, egg burritos, fresh avocados, on whole wheat tortilla, cheese slices, the list could go on! I mixed this with my Summer Salsa recipe, AH-MAZING!


::  enjoy  ::

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Summer Salsa + More!


No silly, not that kind of salsa!

This kind of salsa..


I absolutely love this recipe! It tastes so fresh and is versatile. I have been toying with a few variations on this recipe and have been pleased with the outcomes.  So I will start with the basic recipe and then give you my different takes.

2 TBS Olive oil – I have used canola and been fine
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (depends on your taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups fresh corn – I have used canned and been fine
2 avocados diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 diced red onion

Whisk together in medium bowl oil, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. Serve with tortilla chips.

So that is the basic recipe. Making a few adjustments like using canned corn or canned diced tomatoes not only works fine, but helps me with my dreaded canned good rotation! And while I am a huge fan of the lovely avocado, it can go brown rather quickly, so I would suggest only adding the darling fruit to the mixture you are consuming within a few days. I have also substituted onion powder (to taste) for the chopped onion.

Alright, now for my variations! I love playing test kitchen..

To your oil mixture add one can corn, one can black beans (drained + rinsed), one can diced tomatoes (drained + rinsed). Season with salt, pepper and onion powder to taste. Simple huh! And who doesn’t have these basic ingredients in their pantry? I enjoyed this for breakfast, taking a whole wheat tortilla, spreading some roasted red pepper hummus on it and filling her up. So good! And filling! You can of course put a chopped avocado on top or on the side of this dish.

The next one I tried was with the same variation as above, but cooked. I place the mixture onto a whole wheat tortilla, sprinkled some cotija cheese, folded it burrito style, and then threw it on my wonderful Cuisinart Griddler – which I just learned  also has a WAFFLE PLATE!!  SQUEE!  Anyway.the burrito! I just grilled it for a few minutes to heat the little stuffed confection up and TA-DA! I of course threw on some more cotija cheese (me and my cheese) and had the avocado on the side with a little salt.  

Such a wonderful recipe! Great summer side dish and wonderful vegetarian meal!

Would love to hear any variations you come up with!


::  enjoy  ::