Inspired by Sheila's request, I am posting my recipe for Six Pepper Hummus. It's super-yummy, made with naturally heathly indredients, and a little less calorie-dense than regular hummus due to the addition of pureed peppers.
Six-Pepper Hummus
-1.5 C cooked garbonzo beans ( I soak some beans overnight then cook them until tender, but I can't tell you how much dry beans you need to make 1.5C cooked, or how long to cook them, so if you are not into Kitchen Gambling you can use the canned ones, drained and rinsed).
-1/4C cooking liquid or liquid from can
-1 large red sweet pepper
-assortment of 5 medium-hot peppers (I used crimson hot, red jalepeno, pimento, banana, and an unidentified red curly one, you can use whatever is available at your grocery except habanero, I don't recommend that one unless you like it REALLY hot)
-2T olive oil
-1T tahini paste
-juice of 1/2 lemon
-1/4tsp cumin
Roast the peppers in a baking dish in a 400F oven until the skins have blackened. Cool slightly, peel off the skins (easier if you seal in a plastic bag while cooling). Scrape out innards and deposit the flesh into a blender or food processor. Add in the cooked beans and the remainer of ingredients. Blend on high for two minutes, should be quite smooth and a little emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste, pulsing to distribute. Put into a bowl, sprinkle a little paprika on top and decorate with a sprig of parsley. Chill and serve with pita chips.
Where do I get some good, preservative-free, low-sodium pita chips you ask? Whip up a batch yourself, it's easy!
*The hummus is gluten-free, but the chips, clearly, are not.
Pita Chips
-1 bag of whole wheat pitas (pocketed kind, not greek)
-olive oil cooking spray
-cayenne pepper, s&p, dried italian herbs of herb de provence, cumin
Cut pitas in half and split along edges to get four half-moons. Spray both sides of each half-moon lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with your choice of herbs and spices, very lightly (flavour will concentrate). Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350F oven until lightly browned. Warning! They go from perfect to inedibly burnt very quickly, so you must watch them closely. It takes about 10 minutes in my oven but could take less or more, depending on your oven, the thickness and moisture content of your pita bread, and the alignment of the planets. I usually burn at least one batch, so it's best to be prepared with extra pitas.
Nutritional Info per 1/3C: 107 cals, 7g fat, 3g protein, 9g carbs, 2g fibre
