DIY: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
My husband and I are trying to ease ourselves to consume more natural food. In other words, skip out the processed goods, where possible.
I wouldn’t say we are as healthy as we can be (we are certainly no, Tom Brady and Giselle!) but we are healthier than most. But it’s never a comparison to who’s better— more of what we can learn from the best. More importantly, remembering that you are what you eat.
I’ve doing a lot of reading on reasons to avoid processed food (as much as possible). But I'm having a lot of trouble understanding what processed food really is!
In our case, we have salads for lunch every day. One of the key protein sources in our salad is store-bought hummus. Does that qualify as unprocessed food?
I wasn’t too sure, but since it’s prepackaged store-bought, I considered it processed. But as I read on further. I wasn't pleased with what I was learning about our brand of store-bought hummus. And so I made my own!
Relying on my ever-reliable kitchen side-kick, Yummly, I looked up recipes and stumbled on Cassie’s roasted red pepper hummus recipe. I made it with a twist of my own.
Prep time 1 hour 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
The ingredients are simple —
2 red peppers
½ tsp tahini
2 cups of raw chickpeas
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of olive oil
2 tsp of lemon squeeze
Pinch of paprika
Warm water as needed
Prepping the Chickpeas
I soaked two cups of chickpeas overnight (I would recommend soaking it for at least eight hours to soften the peas).
Instead of my usual pressure cooker stint, I decided to boil them for 45 minutes in warm water. I figured it’d be easier as I’d be able to use it almost immediately after.
Once that’s done I took on Cassie’s tip on skinning the chickpeas for a smooth, creamy and fluffy finish. The good thing, it wasn’t too hard. You can easily pop the skin by gently squeezing the pea with your fingers. I agree with Cassie; it’s a little time-consuming. But I got done within 10 minutes.
Roasting Red Peppers
Not wanting to use jar roasted red peppers (since I'm going unprocessed ), I went ahead and roasted two red peppers in my toaster oven. This is also a simple recipe.
Pre-heat the oven to 400F for 10 minutes.
Wrap the tray with aluminum foil and brush it light layer of olive oil
Lightly cover the peppers with olive oil
Place your peppers on the tray and pop it for 10 minutes
Turn it around and let it roast for another 10 minutes
Your peppers should be blackened before you pop them out
Once it’s done and cooled a little, slice the top, remove the seeds as well as skin and the white inner cavity. And you’re done (at least with the peppers!)
Getting Down to the Hummus
Drop all the ingredients into a blender and pulse till it’s all mixed nicely. Then slowly pour the oil in and continue pulsing the blend till it’s smooth.
If you haven’t already, add your salt, pepper, pinch of paprika in and blend it a little more. Be sure to not overdo it. Your mix should be fluffy and smooth not liquefied.
Transfer the hummus to a bowl. I had put some slices of red pepper aside which I sprinkled on top and WARLA— my first ever homemade roasted red pepper hummus.
Your turn: Share with us your homemade alternative to store-bought food. Hashtag #SaltPepperandEverythingBetween when you share on your social networks!
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