hummus

Roasted Tomato Tahini Dip

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Once upon a time I tried my hardest to get my boys to nap at the same time.

Once upon a time I let tomatoes burn to ash.

And, once upon a time I gave up on nap time.

It’s been a few months, actually, almost half a year – Wait, can that be?! Man does time fly! – since my toddler has taken a nap at home in his bed.

You see, my son hates sleep. He always has. It’s one of the most frustrating things about the kid! I would spend anywhere from 30-90-120 minutes of my day desperately trying to get him to fall asleep. He’s never taken a nap willingly and I’ve always had to practically trick him into it – reading books, rocking, singing, stroking his hair/arm/face. Often there’d be screaming and tears coming from both of us. All of that effort for what would end up being a 45 minute nap. A nap from which he’d wake up grumpier than before!

I spent a lot of days trying to decide if it were time to give it up. But kids need naps, at least that what all the parenting literature says.

The day I tried making this dip was the final straw.

I tossed some tomatoes in the oven and went downstairs to get the kids ready for nap. With the door closed and kids screaming, I never heard the timer going off. I’d obviously forgotten about the tomatoes entirely and after 2 hours, I gave up! Opened the door and was hit with the smell of the oven and the sound of a beeping timer. Definitely didn’t help improve my mood!

I gave it a couple of weeks and tried again. And I’m so glad I did. This dip is a great way to change up your game day watching spread. Serve it with pita chips, fresh pita, pretzels, or veggies.

Roasted Tomato Tahini Dip

Ingredients:

  • 2 C grape tomatoes
  • 1/2 C roasted almonds
  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tsp red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for roasting

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
  2. Place tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with S+P. Roast 45-50 minutes, or until the tomatoes burst. Let cool.
  3. When tomatoes have cooled slightly, put them and their juices in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the olive oil. Pulse the tomatoes until combined, while the machine is running, pour in the olive oil until the mixture becomes smooth. Season to taste with S+P.

*This recipe is adapted from Tara at http://tarasmulticulturaltable.com/secretrecipeclub-roasted-tomato-almond-and-tahini-dip/*

Roasted Tomato Tahini Dip | Sew You Think You Can Cook | http://sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

Berry Yummy Hummus

~ lk529 ~ 12 Comments

When I saw Strawberry Hummus on Facebook I was instantly intrigued. I wasn’t sure if we were talking a sweet dip chock full of garbanzo bean goodness or strawberries used in a savory application. Yes, the latter is possible. I’ve used strawberries with pork, with shrimp, and on pizza before to great success.

I vowed that the strawberry hummus would be made as soon as we’d polished off the regular hummus already in the fridge. And I did just that!

I made some adjustments to the recipe. 1) I’d forgotten to pick up lemons, so I decided to use the Meyer lemon olive oil. 2) I, as typical with an infant in the house, I used agave in place of honey. And 3) I broke open the bottle of raspberry balsamic vinegar for some extra berry flavor!

Firecracker has had a roller coaster relationship with hummus in his extensive 1.5 year solid food eating life. Currently, he loves it. As berries are probably his number one snack of choice I had high hopes for this dip. Unfortunately, putting his two favorite foods together does not yield a perfect snack. In fact, when I pulled out the hummus the following day to give him another taste he declared, “I want the real hummus.” By which he means the store bought plain hummus. I’m afraid he’ll never trust a homemade hummus again! The strawberries helped me achieve the smoothest hummus I’ve made to date, too. Sigh…

Berry Hummus (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Treat and I quite enjoyed the hummus though! This unique hummus had an earthy, yet slightly fruity, taste perfect for pita chips, pretzels, and even apple slices. I’m sure cucumber sticks would compliment the dip well, too.

Berry Hummus (baby) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Berry Yummy Hummus

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz strawberries, hulled
  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 1/2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp Meyer lemon olive oil
  • 1 tsp agave
  • 1 tsp raspberry balsamic vinegar, plus more for serving
  • 1 tsp fresh basil

Steps:

  1. Place the strawberries in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
  2. Add the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, olive oil, agave, and balsamic in the food processor. Blend until smooth. Return the strawberries, reserving a couple of tablespoons for garnish, to the food processor along with the basil. Pulse until fully combined.
  3. Serve hummus with a drizzle of extra balsamic vinegar and the remaining strawberries.

*This recipe is modified from Danielle at http://www.fancymadesimple.com/recipes/appetizers/strawberry-hummus/*

Berry Yummy Hummus made with Strawberries and Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar makes for a fun take on Hummus | Sew You Think You Can Cook | sewyouthinkyoucancook.com

#WaffleWeek2015: Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

~ lk529 ~ 18 Comments

#WaffleWeek2015 Hosted by Kim @ Feed Me, Seymour

Waffles are in my top five favorite foods, so when I found out there was a blogging event completely surrounding waffles I just had to join in! Thank you to Kim of Feed Me, Seymour for allowing me to barge in!

I have six different waffle recipes on this blog, all of which appeal to the first meal of the day (not that that stops us from having waffles for dinner once a month!). I thought it would be fun to take this festive occasion to share a waffle intended for dinner (or lunch).

These hummus waffles are studded with Italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil. I was tempted to rename these waffles “pizza waffles” because that’s exactly what the flavor profile reminded us of! I did feel that that title would be slightly misleading as there isn’t any cheese in these waffles. I do think adding in some shredded mozzarella would be welcome to really take the pizza concept to the next level – and provide marinara for dipping!

I wasn’t really sure how to eat these waffles, but we still topped this savory creation with maple syrup (no butter, though). We loved the savory sweet combination, so give it a try!

IMG_5329 (2)I was skeptical on how my son would handle these waffles. He, like his mother, loves all breakfast foods, but I wasn’t sure if the texture of the add-ins would throw him off. The answer was not even a little bit! He ate an entire waffle on his own.

Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 1 C flour
  • 1 C white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 C milk
  • 1/2 C hummus
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 sausage link, casings removed and fully cooked
  • 1/4 C chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used Gourmet Garden lightly dried basil)

Steps:

  1. Preheat waffle iron and spray with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the eggs and milk. Add in the hummus and olive oil, mixing until combined (it will be thick). Fold in the cooked sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil.
  3. Drop 1/3 – 1/2 C of waffle batter onto the prepared waffle iron and cook until golden.

*This recipe is modified from Gina at http://www.runningtothekitchen.com/savory-hummus-waffles/*

Hummus Waffles with Sausage and Sun-Dried Tomatoes for #WaffleWeek2015 from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And keep that waffle iron hot for these other great recipes:

Appet-affles

Breakf-affles

Waffl-ides

Dessert Dish-affles

CIC: Cauliflower & Cheese

~ lk529 ~ 14 Comments

CIC-header

Hey I made it! Talk about procrastination. I made my Crazy Ingredient Challenge dish yesterday during the little man’s naptime. I had to do this during naptime because it required the food processor and my little man absolutely hates it when we run the Ninja. I’m talking completely loses it with big ole alligator tears. We try taking him over to the machine and even let him help push the buttons, trying to prove that we are in control of the loud noise, but it’s not working. So, I prefer to wait to use it if I’m the only one home.

The ingredients that won the vote this month are Cauliflower and Cheese – any kind of cheese! I thought first of doing mashed cauliflower and potatoes with cream cheese. But we had mashed potatoes earlier this week. I really wanted to try a cauliflower crust pizza, but knew I wouldn’t have the time to get that done. (It’s still on my bucket list though.)

I have been keeping a bean dip in the fridge for my afternoon snacks, either hummus or black bean, and thought that’d be a great way to “sneak” cauliflower into the menu. The cheese I decided to use was Parmesan. This dip ended up reminding me of pizza (I now see how cauliflower works in place of crust) so I added some oregano to the mix, if I had sun-dried tomatoes that would’ve gone in too! Veggies are a perfect healthy dipper but pita chips or even whole grain tortilla chips work nicely too.

Cauliflower Bean Dip

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided use
  • 1 can (15oz) great north beans (or any white bean), drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
  • zest 1 Meyer lemon
  • juice 1 Meyer lemon
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Break cauliflower into florets, about 1″ in size. Place on a baking sheet and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil. Bake 25 minutes, until lightly golden.
  3. In a large food process, pulse beans, roasted cauliflower, cheese, zest and juice of the lemon, garlic, oregano, S+P, and up to 1/4 C water. Pulse until smooth. Season to taste with additional S+P if needed.

*This recipe is modified from Lauren at http://www.fromthelittleyellowkitchen.com/2012/02/22/roasted-cauliflower-white-bean-dip/*

Cauliflower Bean Dip | Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.
An InLinkz Link-up

SRC: Hummus and Pita

~ lk529 ~ 38 Comments

newsrcbanner

Today is another Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the secret recipe club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

This month I was assigned Susan’s blog The Wimpy Vegetarian. While Susan eats a mostly vegetarian diet, her husband does not. She has become very successful cooking for what she labels a “mixed marriage.” Her success in the kitchen of cooking for vegetarians and omnivores has lead her to a cookbook deal. In searching her website I have high aspirations for her cookbook.

I fell in love with Susan’s blog immediately. The layout of her page and her bright photography lulled me in and I stayed for her wonderful selection of recipes. Her beautiful page not only inspired me to take the plunge and update my recipe index but the entire look of my blog! If you like it, you can thank Susan. 😉

Over ten recipes made the cut for consideration for today’s reveal day. Two of them won the bid. And a third will be part of my collection of soups in anticipation for this weekend’s Super Bowl. Curry Apple Chips, Spiced Sweet Potato Fries, and Honey Cornbread are just a few of the recipes that I vow to try. (And now that reveal day is here I can finally subscribe to her blog via email!) But for now I will be sharing Hummus with Roasted Tomatoes AND Whole Wheat Pita.

I was able to check two items off my culinary bucket list thanks to Susan!  I knew that hummus was simple enough to make, especially taking advantage of canned garbanzo beans (sorry, Susan!), but I always shoved it off with a comment of “one day.” Making homemade pita wasn’t something I thought I’d tackle so soon, but how can I serve hummus during a football game without some pita bread to go with it? Conveniently, Susan had a recipe for this too. And I have to say, it wasn’t as difficult as I’d anticipated! However, I’m not sure if I went wrong in the baking time because my pita didn’t deflate – at least not the same day. I put the leftover bread in a resealable bag and stored it in the fridge. Just 10 seconds in the microwave yielded perfect pita for dipping in homemade hummus. It really is best served warm.

Hummus with Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 6 roma tomatoes
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 1/2 C cooked garbanzo beans (just under 2 15.5oz cans)
  • 3 tbsp Tahini
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 C water

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Slice tomatoes in half and place cut side up on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with the thyme and S+P. Bake 4 hours. Pour balsamic vinegar over the roasted tomatoes and let cool. Chop to desired size. (Note: Not all of these tomatoes will be used for the hummus, they will keep in the fridge for up to 1 month.)
  3. In a food processor pulse garbanzo beans, tahini, paprika, white pepper, salt, cumin, and lemon juice. When a smooth paste is acheived slowly add the water, puree until completely smooth.
  4. Mix in 2 tbsp of the roasted tomatoes.

*These recipes are adapted from Susan at http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2013/05/sundaysupper-roasted-balsamic-tomatoes/ and http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2014/02/vegan-appetizer-roasted-tomato-hummus-sundaysupper-super-eats-for-game-day/*

Whole Wheat Pita

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp instant yeast (just under 1 packet)
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 1/4 C warm water (110 degrees F)
  • 2 C bread flour
  • 1 C whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Steps:

  1. Gently stir yeast and honey in the warm water. Set aside and allow yeast to foam for 10 minutes.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine both flours and salt. Add the proofed yeast mixture and olive oil. Using the dough hook, knead until the dough comes together around the dough hook. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead until completely smooth, add more whole wheat flour if too sticky. Form the dough into a ball.
  3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and set aside in warm location for two hours, or until doubled in size. (I did this in my microwave.)
  4. Divide the dough into 8 disks. Cover and let rest 20 minutes.
  5. Place a pizza stone in the center rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  6. Roll each disk into an 8″ pita. Be sure to run the rolling pin along the edges of the pita. Cover and let rest another 10 minutes.
  7. Cook pita on the pizza stone for 3 minutes. Do this in batches so that the entire pita is in contact with the stone – not overlapping or hanging off the edge.

*This recipe is adapted from Susan at http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2012/12/easy-whole-wheat-pita-bread/*

Hummus & Pita | Sew You Think You Can Cook

To see the other bloggers who participated in the Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Hummus Tostadas

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

A couple of weekends ago we went to the Destin Harbor Farmer’s Market. It was a small market with some beautiful selections. I love going to farmer’s markets because my “artistic” camera self comes out. The vibrancy of fresh produce makes me happy and I love taking close ups of the fruits on display.

Destin Harbor Farmer's Market

It was sweat-dripping hot that morning, and one of the venders definitely profited from the weather. Her Swell Pops hit the spot. Stuart got the Vanilla Bean and I enjoyed a Strawberry Balsamic.

Swell Pops

Across the way was The Greek Gourmet selling homemade hummus. Hummus is one of my go-to afternoon snacks, but I’ve never tried making my own. (Yes, I am aware it’s simple to do and it’s on my culinary bucket list.) There were great flavor options and we walked away with two containers! Original, which features a nice kick of garlic, and Spicy Black Bean.

What does all of this have to do with Mexican Monday? I’ll give you a hint. Read the last three words of the above paragraph.

We used this Spicy Black Bean Hummus in place of refried beans in making tostadas. And it worked beautifully. This hummus gets its kick from jalapenos. Because I knew the hummus was spicy I opted for a mellow protein to top our tostadas. I pulled out the crockpot, seasoned chicken with S+P, and dumped in some Rotel and cream cheese. We shredded it and enjoyed our Mexican Monday on Tostada Tuesday (I forget what was happening on Monday that required a postponement of our Mexican dinner.)

I appologize that we don’t have photos of this meal (sometimes hunger wins out), but next time you’re thinking of tostadas, get creative with your toppings! You could even turn them completely Greek and use original hummus with more classic Greek toppings – like olives, feta, and grilled squash.

Hummus Chicken

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

My mom came to visit last weekend and while Stuart was off Adventure Racing.

We enjoyed a very girly weekend. We got our nails done, which I never do – I even picked a pink polish color!, we watched chick-flicks and ate popcorn, we went shopping, and she knitted a hat and booties while I worked on another baby quilt.

Oh – and after a trip to Home Depot we changed 7 light bulbs in my house.

Mom and I are perfectly happy with simple snack-style dinners – hummus with pita, popcorn, salad, cheese and crackers, etc. However I did plan to cook at least once while she was in town. I picked out a recipe that I thought she’d not only like but would make back home. Something healthy and simple. And this Hummus Chicken is exactly that. You could even add variation by simply using whatever flavor hummus you like – red pepper, basil, spicy, original! I served the chicken with asparagus. The original recipe suggested serving  roasted squash, but as that would kill me (allergies) I chose to omit the dangerous vegetable.

I didn’t end up making this either Friday night or Saturday while Stuart was gone, and we had plans to go to Sushi on Sunday for dinner so I decided to make the chicken for Sunday’s lunch. And as it was a most beautiful day I knew I’d get to take advantage of some natural light for once! Before plating the food I brought it over to my standard photography site to find that the window panes create shadows that are smaller than my plates. So much for that idea. (Next house – the windows and sunlight will be greatly scrutinized.) But I’ve read up on food photography tips and every blogger and book says to take the food outside. So, I did! And I think it turned out great! (Although we did have to shoo away a bumble bee!) As my schedule doesn’t allow for me to photograph meals outdoors I don’t have a set up or anything, so… my food was put on the sidewalk. But hey, it’s on a plate which is on a placemat. It did greatly amuse me though to be picking food up off the ground to then go inside and enjoy.

Hummus Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 8 tbsp hummus
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp paprika

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Season chicken with S+P. Top each breast with 2 tbsp hummus. Place in a greased casserole dish.
  3. Squeeze chicken with lemon and sprinkle with paprika.
  4. Bake 25 minutes.

This recipe is adapted from Ali at http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/hummus-crusted-chicken/*

Image