Brittany's PantryInstant Hummus-Back To School Post #4
Brittany wrote this on 25 August 2013
garbanzo beans, garlic, gluten-free, lemon, tahini
Don’t be misled by the title of this post! When I say ‘instant’ hummus, I don’t mean it is a mix or prepackaged, but rather that it is so easy and quick, it comes together in almost an instant!
Of course you could purchase the hummus from the store. And most of the popular brands are quite good! But I like to cook. I like to bake. And making something this simple from scratch seems the logical thing to do. I can use my own great ingredients and know for sure that my family, and in turn, myself, are eating quality food. My kids watch the dip wiz up in the food processor and they know that there are garbanzo beans in hummus, not just read it on a label. They dip in a finger and tell me they want more lemon juice added this time. They laugh and joke around, dipping grapes in the bowl, only to wrinkle their noses and deem them NOT good in hummus. They fight for a foothold on the step stool so they can watch the mixture turn colors when I add a roasted red pepper or pulse in chopped olives. These are all very good things.
Using dried beans is the next step here and we will cover that another time, but for now, I just wanted to share my straight up hummus. All hummus recipes are usually quite similar and my version pretty much sticks to the classic formula. I always kind a thought it was missing a little something though, and so, never felt comfortable posting it. But after eating a spicy hummus at a cafe a few months ago, I realized what I needed. Cumin. Not enough to be a prominent flavor, but just enough to boost it a bit. Bingo! I hit the mark!
The beauty of hummus is that you can make it totally your own. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the recipe and read the variations and of course, feel free to add your own ideas to the comments below. I just don’t recommend grapes…
And don’t forget to head over to the previous post and enter the HONEY GIVEAWAY!! Who wouldn’t love to get sweet treats in the mail!-CLOSED
One Year Ago: Lunchbox Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two Years Ago: Pesto, Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Three Years Ago: Tortellini W/Shrimp
Instant Hummus
2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas) rinsed and drained
3 T tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T lemon juice
3/4 tsp cumin
1/3 c water
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
salt and pepper to taste
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor, adding more olive oil to achieve desired consistency. Continue to process until the hummus is as smooth or as chunky as you like! Taste for seasoning. Store tightly sealed in the fridge for up to 4 days. Serve the hummus smeared on a sandwich with cheese, spinach and tomato, rolled up in a tortilla, or with crudite, pretzels, crackers, pita chips, or naan.
Variations:
-add 1 whole roasted red pepper, seeds removed, and process
-add 1/4 c grated parmesan
-coarsely chop one can of drained artichoke hearts and pulse in
-stir in 1/2 c chopped black olives to the final dip
-pulse in 1 tsp of black pepper and a few splashes of hot sauce
-use 1 recipe roasted garlic instead of freshly minced
Back to school recipes still comin’ atchya! Like many of you, lunches and snacks and make-ahead meals are on my brain. So here is another one to pin, tweet, bookmark, copy, or bake that can help with some of that!
This post comes to you via Marriott hotel complimentary internet service in Indiana! The hubs and munchkins and I are taking a much needed last minute vaca; sneaking it in just before my daughter starts second grade on Tuesday. Currently, it is late and my kiddos are still avoiding sleep on the hide-a-bed across the hotel room so I am hoping the clicking sound of my laptop as I type this lulls them to sleep. Fingers crossed.
Phew! So finally!! I’m done! After 12 (no exaggeration) batches of cookies, I have finally settled on the final version! A nice, even dozen attempts. Seriously. Ask my friends and neighbors. I was so desperate for opinions that one day I had taken to leaving labeled bags of cookies in their mailboxes. If I had any inclination that it would take me so many batches-spread out over a month and a half-just to finalize this recipe, I probably would have skipped it in leu of something less labor intensive. But anything worth doing is worth doing right, right? Right!
Somewhere around version eight, I started to lose momentum and…well…get kinda sick of oatmeal cookies. (Months from now I will probably read that line and chastise my former self, scolding ‘What? For shame! How could you ever be sick of oatmeal cookies! They are your favorite! Suck it up, you pansy!’) I had sent hundreds of them along with my husband to work, frozen hundreds more, and ate-er, um-a few. In the end, I scrapped everything I was making and started over with a pencil and paper and just created my own. Admittedly, the very thing I should have done in the first place. Then it was just a matter of working out the kinks.
These are not, I should tell you, a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie. Healthy was before with the zucchini muffins and will be again later when we talk homemade hummus. No, these are just easy and good. They have no fancy ingredients and no extra steps. You will not be making browned butter or sprinkling the hot cookies with gourmet salt in the last 2 minutes of baking. These are just straight up, hearty, oatmeal-y and raisin-y. They have been made a dozen different ways (Ha! Literally!) and every ingredient has been adjusted at least once. Right down to the amount of nutmeg. This recipe is now the only plain oatmeal raisin cookie recipe I will ever use. I promise. Cross my heart and spit on the floor. Its the best that I can do. It has earned a spot here in my back to school series because it is as classic as can be, tucked into a lunchbox or waiting on the table with a glass of cold milk when the cherubs burst through the door after school. Here’s hoping the all the oatmeal will hold them off till dinner.
And look at that! My kids are asleep! Well, what do ya know….
Two Years Ago: Keebler Cracker Bars & Cocoa Cake
Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 c (2 sticks) softened butter
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 c rolled oats-not quick cooking
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 c raisins
3/4 c chopped walnuts
In the large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Beat until smooth with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine. Add the salt and spices and mix. Add the oats, flour, and baking soda and mix slowly, just until combined. Slowly stir in the raisins and walnuts. Drop dough by measured scoop or rounded teaspoonfuls onto a lined cookie sheet. Press gently with flat fingers to make little hockey pucks and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy within 3 days or freeze, tightly sealed for up to 6 months.
Whole Wheat Zucchini Spice Muffins: Back To School Post #2
Brittany wrote this on 9 August 2013 honey, whole wheat flour, zucchini
Here we are again! More back to school recipes and ideas!
This recipe came about fast and furiously. Much like the way zucchini grows. It sneaks up on you unexpectedly and then BAM! You have a garden full of green bats that could feed a whole vegetarian army.
I was in the mood for a super healthy, plain, spiced zucchini muffin and I didn’t feel like searching through all the recipes in my archives to find one and test it. So I just started from scratch with a pen and paper. The first batch was just blegh! Into the trash it went. The second batch was much better and the the third and fourth were perfect. Boom. There. I did it. Problem solved. Then I went to the computer and erased all my other zucchini muffin recipes. Into the virtual trash you go, inferior and less-healthy zucchini muffin recipes!
Recipe development is extremely satisfactory for me. My husband thinks I’m crazy but doesn’t complain because he gets to take all the UN-perfect batches of food to work. Like…um…I don’t know, say…the first 10 batches of oatmeal raison cookies that didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to. Batch number 11 is slated for tomorrow, but thats neither here nor there. The point is, I love it. I love it love it love it. And even though the challenge is against no one by myself, it is one of the things I love most about being in the kitchen.
I of course tackled this recipe with a plan. I wanted to use honey as the sweetener, use all whole wheat, no dairy, and make it super spiced. So I did! I had to tweak the sugar a bit at the beginning as the honey just didn’t have enough umph to hold its own against the spices. I was however walking around using my best Schwarzenegger voice and repeating the phrase, “I am da zucchini shreddah!” whilst filling bowl after bowl of the veggie ribbons in preparation. Because cooking should be fun, right? Or at least filled with 90’s movie references….? But they turned out great and more batches have already collected in my freezer. The plan? Snack on them, eat ’em for breakfast, throw them at my hubby when his blood sugar gets low, and tuck them into my daughters’ school lunches when she starts a new year in a few weeks. She loves getting muffins in her lunch (pulled right from the freezer, they defrost by lunchtime) as they fill her up perfectly when paired with some fruit salad and low fat string cheese. I always send her with water to drink since she is getting milk at afternoon break, dinner, and sometimes breakfast.
The kids rolled their eyes to the heavens when I presented them with these this morning. I took that as a good sign. Or maybe they were just glad I was done shredding zucchini…
Here are some other great, bake ahead, healthy lunch recipes!
Earth Bread: There is a reason this is one of my most popular recipes. Its darn good! Baked as muffins, they are just as yummy to pull from the freezer as these zucchini ones. Baked in loaf form, it is a great snack or addition to a lunchbox. But two slices with cream cheese between them, and you have one stellar sandwich! My daughter’s favorite!
Blueberry Maple Muffins: Healthy and a fruity change of pace!
Apple Carrot Muffins-Gluten Free: These delightful little nuggets are addictive to just about anyone! Bake them up in a mini-muffin tin and add 3 or 4 pop-able bites to your brown bag! They also make the ideal afternoon snack!
Homemade Granola Bars: One of these babies can easily sub out for a sandwich. After you cut them up, wrap them individually in cellophane and throw them all in a gallon zip top freezer bag. Just pull from the freezer and toss in your lunch box!
Pumpkin Pie Muffins: These are easily up there in the #1 or #2 spot as the most favorite muffin in our house. They are simply awesome. Yes they might remind you of fall. But make them anytime of year and after one bite, you won’t care.
Oatmeal Raisin Snack Bars: Despite the title of the recipe, they are great as the main attraction in a school lunch. So healthy and soooo good.
Banana Bran Muffins: I have no words. These are just so good. A freezer with a bag or two of these inside makes for a happy household!
Also, if you follow Brittany’s Pantry on Facebook, you heard about the Muffin Caper in our house. This all happened while I was trying to photograph this recipe!
Cutest thief ever if you ask me!
One Year Ago: Summer Salmon
Two Years Ago: Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Baked Pasta W/Summer Veggies
Three Years Ago: The BEST Margaritas, June Bugs, Herbal Iced Tea, BBQ Pulled Pork
Whole Wheat Zucchini Spice Muffins
In a large bowl, combine:
1/3 c canola oil
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c honey
1/4 c brown sugar or raw sugar
2 eggs
2 c shredded zucchini, lightly packed
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
Mix till thoroughly combined. Fold in:
1 1/2 c white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
Gently fold dry ingredients until just combined. Don’t over mix! Portion into 1 dozen paper lined, or sprayed muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes, or until lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and enjoy. If freezing, cool completely before sealing.
Love a Good Recipe?
Then you’ve come to the right place! I’m Brittany, and I share tested, trusted recipes you’ll love. I prepare & photograph food, obsess over the perfect recipe, and enjoy grins of delight when I serve up something awesome. Enjoy!
