at home with ann

We go through a lot of hummus.  It's one of my go-to meals for Colin, and Jon and I will make a pretty serious dent in a container during a snack session.  While Trader Joe's Mediterranean is my all time favorite, it's always good to whip up a batch at home.  I had my usual kitchen helper at my side for this one, which meant a fair amount of lemon sucking, chickpea sampling, pressing buttons on the food processor and finally eating the finished product straight up with a spatula.  It's always a messy adventure in our kitchen these days. Roasted Garlic Hummus 2 cups chickpeas or 1 can, rinsed and drained 1 head garlic 2 tablespoons tahini 1 lemon, juiced Kosher or sea salt 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for garlic Warm water Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice the very top off the head of garlic and place on a piece of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap tightly. Roast garlic for 1 hour and allow to cool before handling. Once the garlic is cool,...

This is a nice twist on traditional hummus, and you know I usually can't get enough of the chickpeas.  Replacing the chickpeas with edamame and the traditional olive oil with sesame oil gives this an Asian flavor that pairs especially nicely with rice crackers.  I recommend the wasabi flavor if you like the spice.  The only part of this that I didn't like was peeling the skins off the edamame.  I know it gives the hummus a creamier texture, but it took a good 20 minutes during which time I was singing Disney tunes loudly to Colin in an attempt to keep him entertained and not chewing on the baseboards.  Next time I might just live dangerously and see what happens if I leave them on. Edamame Hummus recipe from Daily Garnish  Ingredients: 1 16 oz. bag frozen edamame 2 garlic scapes, roughly chopped (or one clove of garlic) 1/4 cup water (adjust as necessary) 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 2 Tablespoons tahini 2 Tablespoons sesame oil Salt Directions:...

My friend Jackie is a great cook, and loves finding new recipes as much as I do.  Our Pinterest boards are full of them.  The other day she emailed me some links for chicken salad recipes, and while I didn't follow them exactly, I used the ideas and did my own thing.  They were both delicious, I highly recommend keeping these in mind next time you have a chicken salad hankering.  I know you can all make chicken salad, but these little changes kick things up a notch.  I started with a rotisserie chicken and cut all the meat off.  Split in half gave me about 2 cups of chicken for each recipe. Avocado Chicken Salad 2 cups shredded/cubed cooked chicken 1/2 avocado, cubed 1 cup grapes, halved 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 lemon, juiced salt and pepper Mayo, optional for extra creaminess Hummus Chicken Salad 2 cups shredded/cubed cooked chicken 1/2 cup hummus 1/2 avocado, cubed 1/4 bell pepper, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 lemon, ju...

I love spinach and artichoke dip.  It's one of my favorite bar foods, and I will frequently make it at home for parties or appetizers-for-dinner nights.  Spinach and artichokes are healthy, but sadly, cream cheese, mayo and sour cream are not especially.  While making my weekly batch of hummus (it's scary how fast we go through it around here), I thought adding spinach and artichoke might be a good change from the usual garlic and lemon flavor.  It was.  Not only are the flavors delicious, but adding these ingredients ups the nutrition and volume considerably.  Spinach and Artichoke Hummus Yield: 6 cups 2 cans or about 3 cups chickpeas 1/4 cup tahini 1/2 lemon, juiced 2 garlic cloves Olive oil Water Hot sauce Salt 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed 1 can artichoke hearts, drained In a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice and a little water.  Process until well mixed. Add in garlic, mix well. Add in chickpeas in 2-3...

Hummus is definitely one of my favorite foods.  Eaten with pita bread or chips, vegetables, topping a salad, or on a sandwich or wrap.  It's all good.  I totally admit that I don't always make my own.  Sometimes it just seems easier to buy it.  But, I'm always glad when I make it from scratch, it really only takes a few minutes. Also, we can polish off one of those little containers in two days, so this is way better.   Roasted Jalapeno Hummus 2-4 jalapeno peppers olive oil 1/4-1/3 cup sesame tahini Juice of 1/2-1 lemon 1-2 garlic cloves 2 cans chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved To roast jalapenos: Preheat your broiler. Cut peppers in half.  Protect your hands! On a baking sheet covered with foil, put peppers cut side down.  Drizzle with olive oil. Broil until the skin is blackened and blistered.  Keep an eye on them.  Remove pan from oven and fold foil into a packet around the peppers.  You want them to steam u...

I like my hummus creamy.  Super creamy.  The most important step in making creamy hummus it to remove the skins from the chickpeas.  All of them.  Individually.  Watching golf on tv is a good time to practice chickpea skin removal.  It's actually very easy, just tedious. Jalapeno Hummus based on Peas and Thank you 1 14 oz. can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, peeled 1/4 cup reserved liquid from chickpeas Jalapeno (I used half a large pepper, and didn't worry about removing all the seeds.  Seeds make it spicy, so adjust according to your tastes) 1 large (or 2 small) cloves garlic 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2 Tablespoons) 1/4 cup tahini kosher salt, to taste Rough chop the garlic and jalapeno and put in the bowl of the food processor.  Process for a few seconds to fully chop.  It's ok if there are still some larger chunks.  Add in the tahini and lemon juice and process until fully combined. Add the chickpeas in two parts, fully p...

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Portsmouth, NH with my older sister and her two boys.  We had lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery , which has a great atmosphere.  It's casual, you can see the giant brewing machinery, has good beer, and works for little kids because they give you crayons and as many straws as you want.   My dining companions, the amazing Sarah of Nourishing Path , and her sons Wallace (almost 5) and Lysander (age 1). We didn't imbibe today, so I can't comment on the beer, but had great food.  I had the Hummus and Baba Ganoush plate which came with a few slices of french bread, focaccia, cucumber, carrot, and red bell pepper.  It was delicious, but my nephew's french bread pizza looked pretty good too, so you might be seeing pizza here soon. Since I didn't actually do any cooking today, I thought I would share my own recipe for hummus.  My favorite store bought hummus is Sabra or Trader Joe's, and this is pretty close.   Hummus 1...