Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is one of my favorite Go-To snacks and there are some great store bought brands out there. However, many contain artificial preservatives and MSG (if you don't know why it's prudent to avoid MSG, read here). I know that I always say this, but I really mean it when I say it's too easy to just make your own! This recipe is about a 3 minute process, including

clean up. The great thing about making your own is that YOU control the quality of the ingredients. Also, you can really customize your hummus to your liking. You know when you buy hummus in the store sometimes you get one that's too garlicky. Sometimes you get one that's too runny. This way, you know you'll get exactly the hummus of your dreams. And you can really experiment with hummus too. Try adding all kinds of different spices to it. Give it an Indian flare by adding a bit of curry or a pinch of garam masala. Give it a southwest spin by adding smoked paprika (here is the recipe for my Smoky Southwest Hummus). Get creative!  

Hummus is also a very versatile dip. In fact I encourage you to think of hummus not only as a dip, but as more of a condiment. I LOVE to use it on my sprouted tortilla wraps or in a lettuce wrap in place of mayo (not that there aren't some great mayo recipes out there:)). And I know that traditionally hummus is served with pita, but I love to serve mine with celery sticks, carrot sticks, and cucumber chips! If you have to have a pita-like dipper, try these sprouted tortilla chips. This hummus is also a really great alternative to that ranch veggie dip rubbish.

And I absolutely cannot neglect the fact that hummus is full of great-for-you ingredients. Did you know that 1/4 cup of sesame seeds has about 350 mg of calcium? That's more than one whole cup of cow's milk. The extra virgin olive oil in this recipe is full of heart healthy fats that will give you that shiny coat, as I like to call it. The lemon juice provides vitamin C. Garlic is incredibly anti-bacterial. And the fiber in the garbonzo beans will keep you nice and full. I hope you enjoy this hummus recipe as much as I do! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-15 oz can chick peas (garbonzo beans- same thing), drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup tahini (tahini is just seseame seed paste. You can find it in the international section of every grocery store)
-juice of 1 lemon
-2 cloves of garlic
-2 roasted red peppers
-1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
-sea salt to taste

Directions:
-Place your beans, tahini, garlic, roasted red peppers and lemon juice in your food processor or high speed blender. I make my hummus in my Ninja and it works great!
-Pulse the mixture a few times to get it going a bit. Then turn the machine on and let everything start to combine. Slowly stream in your olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. I like my hummus a bit chunky so I go light on the oil.
-Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt.
-If you find that you have used 1/2 cup of olive oil (which is quite a bit!) and you still prefer it a bit smoother, go ahead and add in some more lemon juice or a bit of water.

If you like, you can omit the red pepper, and then you have a standard hummus. Equally delicious.

*Please use organic ingredients when possible.

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