[sgmb id=”1″]
Spicy Avocado Hummus – Vegan and Gluten Free
Oh boy! Spicy avocado hummus! A few years ago, I was pleasantly shocked when I realized how super easy it was to make hummus. The ingredients, my friends, are pretty basic: chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon or lime, olive oil and spices. Pulse together in a food processor and blam! Hummus! I was absolutely craving some of this creamy goodness yesterday. I also had an avocado that was just a tad too ripe. (Love avo, but hate when they get even a skosh brown.)
oh so casually hid the avo spots with cilantro for this photo…
I gathered my hummus ingredients and thought, why not pop the avocado in the processor with the rest of the gang? Yes, a quick search revealed that I was not the first genius to put these two together, but before I was crushed by my google results, I did feel momentarily brilliant. I added a little harissa on top to increase the wow factor -hoping I was the first to think of that, but probably not 🙁 – and, voila! I got me some spicy avocado hummus!
Harissa, my spice newbies, is a fabulous slightly hot chili pepper paste. While at Reading Terminal Market on Sunday (and if you live in, near or have a chance to visit Philadelphia, you MUST check it out), my brother Pete and I happened upon a new vendor called condiment. These guys freshly handcraft all manner of sauces and spices-just wonderful! I digress here, but must point out that (since coming to the dark side) I have become obsessed with spices. Through my early foray into vegan recipe-trying, I noted that vegan recipes often employ condiments and spices in unique and surprising ways. Whether used to enhance the flavors of grains, fruits and vegetables or to create flavors that were part of our carnivorous past, condiments are essential to the vegan chef’s pantry. More about these necessaries in a future post…
Now back to the spicy avocado hummus. The main ingredient for hummus is chickpeas. I’m pretty impatient and don’t like soak my chickpeas overnight and, guess what? I don’t think it matters. Yes, many authentic hummus recipes call for soaking the beans. Even as I write this post, I glance over my shoulder in fear of the hummus nazis yoinking my Mac away from me saying,”Who are you to say you do not need to soak ze beans?” Well, I didn’t soak ’em and the hummus is scrumptious. Plus, by using canned garbanzos I scored the bean water (aquafaba) for baking with later this week. Check out my earlier earlier pineapple ginger coconut muffin post for more about aquafaba.
This recipe really is a one bowl prep. Just toss the whole garlic cloves in the food processor to chop first, then throw in rest of the ingredients.
avocado hummus before pic
Blend away until the consistency suits, scoop into a bowl, and dig in. I like to make a lot of hummus, usually doubling the recipe so there’s plenty for a week of lunches and snacks. Great on it’s own with tortillas or pita, it is fabulous as a moist maker 🙂 on wraps. [heart_this]
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 15 ounce can garbanzo beans (drained but save the aquafaba
- 3 tbsp tahini - I used Soom Foods ]
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves packed
- 1 avocado pitted and peeled
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp fine sea salt or more to taste
- 1-2 tbsp harissa if you don't have this, you can sub a chopped and seeded serrano pepper
-
Peel garlic cloves and throw in running food processor to chop finely.
-
With processor off, add remaining ingredients (except for harissa).
-
If not using harissa you can throw in the chopped serrano pepper, too.
-
Run food processor on high until hummus is desired consistency. Turn off to scrape sides of bowl down until all ingredients are incorporated.
-
To serve, scoop into bowl and dollop with harissa.
Did you know that avocados are actually single seed berries? And, they will only ripen AFTER they are picked from the tree. Avos are loaded with healthy fats, zero cholesterol and 18 essential amino acids. They have a giant 4 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber - more than most other fruits and vegetables! How 'bout them avos?
