Hummus Bites

Yummy note: Surprise, surprise, it's Secret Recipe Club time! The March assignment brings me to A Couple in the Kitchen, a husband and wife team from Connecticut. Amy and Chris have been blogging strong for several years now. Their blog has been nominated for several awards and recipe recognition, so make sure to check out their list of accomplishments here. Let's start with a couple of my favorites: Sweet Chili and Coconut Corn Soup, oh, do I wish that I had some fresh sweet corn about now to make this soup; made using coconut milk, it is a perfect non-dairy soup to add to my recipe box. Another top choice that looked amazing on this cold, not quite spring day, is this Chocolate Stout Chili. Seriously, I bet the combination of flavors for the stout beer and spicy mole-like ingredients produce an amazing full flavored chili. However, I went with a different recipe to feature. You see, I had this poor little jar of tahini that has been sitting in my kitchen cabinet forever... Seriously, I've been meaning to try and make hummus with it since last summer... yeah, my horrible procrastination. My friend Mandi made amazing hummus at one of our kid's playdates and they loved it, our youngest boys were eating it with their fingers, it was that good. She kept telling me, it is soo easy to make, and I said, sure I'll buy the ingredients and try it one of these days. Haha, the can of chickpeas and tahini sat.. and sat; I never got around to making my hummus, until now. I was finally inspired by A Couple in the Kitchen's take on hummus and its fun presentation. The beautiful color and genius idea of serving hummus in these adorable little fillo cups - perfect for my kiddos hummus fix. LOVE it and I hope you do to. I totally see why it was used for a Halloween recipe, as the beautiful orange color of this hummus was amazing.

Hummus Bites

Recipe from
http://www.acoupleinthekitchen.us/2011/10/halloween-hummus-bites.html

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 lemon using about 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice, to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons of tahini

1 tsp of prepared minced garlic or 2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 (7-ounce) jar of roasted red peppers

2 tablespoons of olive oil

box of mini fillo shells

Optional: whole black olives, pitted

 

Directions:  

Combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, and about 3/4 of the roasted red peppers in a blender or food processor. Pulse the ingredients for a few times and then add in the olive oil, about a teaspoon or so at a time. The mixture will begin to take on different textures, ranging from chunky to smooth, as the olive oil gets incorporated with the other ingredients. Continue pulsing the mixture until the hummus takes on the consistency you'd like. Refrigerate hummus until ready to serve. 

Fill the cute little fillo shells with the hummus and serve. 
Optional finishing touch- Check out A Couple in the Kitchen using the olives and leftover red pepper for a fun presentation.  

Other favorite hummus vehicles include pretzel chips or pita chips and carrots. 

Look at the difference between a homemade version and a store bought hummus. Such a beautiful orange color.