Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Roasted red pepper hummus


My family enjoys Roasted Red Pepper hummus with baked pita chips or in wraps with pita,tahini,falafel (my style) or just as a dip for crackers or baby carrots.

Ingredients

1 16oz. can Chickpeas
½ cup plain yogurt(low-fat,non fat or whole)
1 tbsp Tahini (recipe follows)
3 fat cloves of garlic
1 large red pepper
½ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
Salt to taste

 

What you need to do:


          Roasting the pepper
  • Wash and pat dry the red pepper. Scrape off the sticker if any.
  • Preheat the oven to 450 Deg F and arrange the pepper on a cookie sheet lined with an aluminum foil.
  • Let the pepper roast turning every 15 mins until done, about 25-30 mins.
  •  I throw in the 3 cloves of garlic with the skin on and wrap them in an aluminum foil, along with the pepper to roast. But roasting garlic is optional.
  • After the pepper is done, drop it in either in a bowl and cover the bowl with a cling wrap or drop it in a zip lock bag.
  • Let it rest for 20 mins.
  • Resting helps to peel off the skin easily.
  • Remove the pepper on a cutting board ,peel off the black skin .Remove the stem and the seeds and discard.At this stage,if you have roasted few extra peppers,store them immersed in olive oil and refrigerate.
  • Roughly chop the pepper.I like to reserve a tsp of this chopped pepper for garnishing.
  • Remove the garlic from the skin.If you have roasted it,you will have nice melted roasted garlic.
         Ready for a delicious dip
  • Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
  • Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor/blender until combined.
  • Garnish with the reserved chopped pepper and serve as a dip.
Note

  • Make sure the yogurt is not sour or else it will overpower the taste of pepper.
  
Tahini recipe

·         Dry roast ½ cup white sesame seeds in a skillet on medium low heat until light brown.
·         Let the seeds cool completely.
·         Blend the seeds along with 1/8 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil to a smooth paste.Do not add water.You will need to scrape the bowl of the food processor/blender a couple of time to get it to a smooth paste.
·         Store in an airtight jar and refrigerate until used.