Recipes! – Chunky Roasted Red Pepper Hummus!

I love experimenting with different hummus recipes and this one in particular ended up becoming my fave!  It ended up having this amazing pizza like flavour with all of the delicious Italian seasonings I added.  I don’t really follow recipes too much, I kinda just wing it when I’m in the kitchen, so if you’d like your hummus to be a bit smoother, you can just add more liquids to it.  I like to eat this with organic tortilla chips, slather it on a rice cake, or have it with celery.  Spreading this on a sprouted toasted tortilla wrap (like the Ezekiel brand) would be a great idea with  some other tasty veggies and some nutritional yeast for a nice cheesy flavour…instant pizzas!  There’s so many options with this super easy protein packed veggie snack, the possibilities are endless 🙂

Chunky Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

• 3 cloves garlic (I like it extra garlicky)
• 1 cup dried chick peas (cooks to about 2 cups)
• 2/3 cup roasted red peppers
• 4 tablespoons tahini, more if you want a deeper sesame flavour
• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 dashes of cayenne pepper (a lil more if want it muy caliente)
• 1/2 tsp granulated dried garlic (I told you I like it garlicky)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• I try not to use too much salt, for this recipe I used a dash of Pink Himalayan Salt
• top with chopped fresh parsley & pine nuts

***to make it a smoother consistency, add more olive oil and liquids like water or lemon juice.

Let the chickpeas soak in a container full of water and about 1″ piece of kombu.  Kombu is a seaweed and when you soak and cook the beans with it you greatly reduce the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid in the beans which makes it easier to digest!   Soaking them for about 18 hours reduces the phytic acid to about 50-70%, plus it reduces the cooking time!  I always opt for dried beans instead of canned, just a healthier way to go.

Check out Kris Carr’s Sexy Guide to Beans!

Lightly toast the unhulled sesame seeds in a pan over medium heat while making sure your turing them over and checking on it.  You can turn the sesame seeds into tahini just by blending in a high speed blender or food processor… easy as pie!

Once your beans have been cooked and drained, throw them into a high speed blender (I use my Vitamix) or food processor and add all of the rest of the ingredients.  As I mentioned before, I kinda just wing it in the kitchen and add more seasonings or more liquids to my liking.

Serve with chopped fresh parsley, a nice drizzle of organic extra virgin olive oil and some tasty lil pine nuts!  Enjoy!!