Easy Hummus Recipe

 Please enjoy our guest blogger, Jamie, and her wonderful hummus recipe. 

Jamie’s passion for food and cooking began as a young girl, while watching her Italian mother in the kitchen.  During her time studying at UC Santa Cruz, she came to love the process of cooking and experimenting in her own kitchen.  Her curiosity has pushed her to learn how to make a lot of her own products from scratch instead of buying it at the market like hummus, granola, yogurt, pickles, and much more. As the Alternative Food Chef at a Yosemite summer camp, Jamie cooked for campers and staff with dietary restrictions.  This challenged her to use unconventional ingredients to create hearty and healthy comfort food.  Jamie is currently studying to become an Occupational Therapist and would love to incorporate cooking into her practice one day.

Chickpeas are a type of legume also known as garbanzo beans. In Arabic, the word for chickpea is hummus, which we know as a creamy, garlic-y spread made from chickpeas and tahini (sesame seed paste). You can find all different types of hummus at your local grocery store, but often times store-bought hummus is chock full of unnecessary additives and preservatives that you can’t pronounce. Luckily, it is incredibly easy to make!

Since I ran out of tahini, I decided to spice up my hummus by adding roasted red bell pepper and garlic, but if you have tahini, I would recommend using it. Also, I used chickpeas that I cooked from scratch, which takes longer since you have to let them soak overnight, so feel free to make the hummus using canned chickpeas instead.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:

• ¾ C chickpeas (dry) or 1 can cooked chickpeas
• 3-5 Cardamom Pods (optional)
• ½ Red Bell Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic
• ½ lemon
• 2-3 T Olive oil
• S and P to taste
• 2 t Paprika or Chipotle Powder
• ¼ C Tahini

Directions:

1. Sort through Chickpeas and pick out any off-color or shriveled ones. Soak Chickpeas in water overnight. If using canned beans skip to step 3. 

2. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in large pot and cover with a couple of inches of water. Add a pinch of salt and cardamom pods or any other fresh herb you like (adds a nice aroma and subtle flavor to chickpeas). Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer for 60-90 min or until tender. 

3. While the chickpeas are cooking, place bell pepper and two cloves of garlic (skin on) in aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place the foil pouch in toaster oven or oven at 350 degrees F for about 45 min. 

4. Once chickpeas are tender and the bell pepper and garlic are roasted, place in food processor or blender, adding a few tablespoons of the water that the chickpeas were cooked in. Make sure to take the skin off the garlic.
5. Roughly chop the other two cloves of garlic and add it to food processor along with the juice of half a lemon (or a little more to taste), olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika or chipotle powder.

6. Blend until smooth, top with drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika, and enjoy!

Hummus is loaded with protein and fiber and will help you to stay hungry and fit!