If you wandered upon this post from my Instagram feed, then you already know about my love for hummus. But until last week I hadn’t made it in a year. What?
About six months ago, I got in a bit of a rut with creating recipes. My day job was focused entirely on food and nutrition, and everyone said it was the perfect position for me. But I just completely lost my passion to cook or bake—which I have to say was really depressing.
Well, after quitting my job to focus on my health—scary but true—I’ve slowly regained my love for creating food again. And can I tell you how freaking good that feels? It was like making up with a BFF that I hadn’t seen for a year. That’s because for almost three decades food has been the way that I’ve kept healthy mentally and physically. It’s also one of my main creative outlets.
So I went on a tangent there, but the point is, I’m making food again—it feels good and my health is getting back on track—and I made amazing hummus last week. Ok, so I’ve made this recipe four times in the past week. And I’m pretty picky about my food (so is my fam) so that says a lot.
As I mentioned on my Insta post, I love using hummus as a dip (duh), but also as a salad dressing (add a little milk, non-dairy if needed, to thin it out) because it adds a ton of flavor and it’s super nutrient-dense. Those sweet lil chickpeas will add protein, fiber and healthy fats to keep you satisfied, as well as boost your folate (not just important for pregnant women) and iron (your body needs it for every cell) intake.
I made this hummus with sweet potato, so it has a really nice sweet and savory flava. Oh, and sweet potatoes are pretty A+ nutrition-wise, too. Also rich in fiber in addition to being rich in beta carotene (good for healthy skin and immunity).
I think you’ll like this recipe—you’ll find it below. My next recipe post will be a chickpea dessert. Just trying to decide if it’ll be blondies or “raw” cookie dough. Comment on my Instagram feed if you have an opinion.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 can chickpeas, drained (save the aquafaba)
- 1 small sweet potato (about 1/2 cup—you could also opt for canned)
- 1 Tbsp. tahini
- 1 Tbsp. olive or grapeseed oil
- 2 tsp. cumin (I use 1 Tbsp., but try 2 tsp. first—I’m a little heavy on the spice)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 green onion stalks
- 1/2 tsp. salt (1/4 or no salt if needed for dietary restrictions)
- 1-3 Tbsp. aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake sweet potato for 40 minutes. Then let cool, peel skin off and mash. You can also opt to cook it in the microwave or just use canned sweet potato.
2. Drain chickpeas and set aside the aquafaba—you'll use it later.
3. Add chickpeas to food processor. Then add the rest of the ingredients. It may be a little dry, so add aquafaba until it reaches your desired consistency. I used about 3 Tbsp.
Note: Don't have tahini? NBD. Try another nut butter or sub for 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. You can opt for a fat-free version by skipping the oil and tahini and just add more aquafaba.
Let me know what you think if you try it!
xxoo — Christine