New post! Cilantro Hummus!
As a food blogger, I try really hard to balance what I eat. Some days are better than others. Sometimes my temptations get a hold of me and I fall prey to a big old fashioned doughnut. It’s totally normal; it’s what I refer to as LIVING! What I’ve learned about health and balancing my diet is that one must arm oneself with good choices or else you’ll be more likely to grab a bag of pretzels over vegetables & fruit. All it takes is a little time upfront and you’re on your way.
Well…that and…WILLPOWER.
If you’ve followed my meal prep post or you’ve seen some of my weekly meal prep posts on Instagram, you’ll know that I almost always have fresh-cut vegetables in my fridge. It works out well for us because we have a five year old who loves to eat red peppers (sometimes carrots!) and cucumbers for his “appetizer.” It also makes it easier for me to make good choices throughout the day.
But what do you do if you’re sick of eating vegetables plain? MAKE HUMMUS! I’ve owned a Vitamix for a few years now and it’s become of my most used kitchen appliances (besides our panini press). Cooper has 4-5 smoothies (packed with kale & spinach!) a week and I use it to make a weekly batch of vanilla almond milk or fresh homemade pesto. I’ve added hummus to our weekly rotation because my Vitamix blends it up like a dream! Hummus is fine on its own, but why don’t we take it up a notch and add cilantro oil to the top? You’re probably wondering- Why not mix the cilantro IN with the hummus? Because a certain five-year old that I live with doesn’t like it…. But he WILL eat the hummus without it and that’s good enough for me. More cilantro oil for me!!
And we’re off! We’re gonna make our cilantro oil first. It’s like a liquid-y pesto. It’s a flavor enhancer!
Now we add the cilantro, oil, salt with a small squeeze of lemon into the blender. We’re using grapeseed oil because it doesn’t have a strong taste.Vegetable oil will do as well.
And we blend!
Hello, CILANTRO OIL.
And now we begin our hummus!
Everything (except the cilantro oil!) goes right into the Vitamix. WE BLEND.
Deliciousness.
Now we get our snack on! Little individual dips with cilantro oil on top.
We are armed with goodness. Don’t you come near me with that doughnut.
And now to the fun part…I AM GIVING AWAY A VITAMIX 5200 SERIES BLENDER (in Black! a $449 value!) to one of my readers.
If you’d like a chance to win your very own Vitamix Blender, please leave a comment below telling me:
What’s your favorite dip?
One entry per person, please. US Residents only.
A winner will be picked at random on Tuesday April 29th 2014.
See Official Rules for details.
GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!!!!!!!!! Winner is:
THANK YOU, LYNN!!!
Cilantro Hummus
makes about 3 cups
to make the cilantro oil:
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- squeeze of lemon
Place ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
to make the hummus:
- 1 (15 oz. can) garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 clove garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Place the garbanzo beans, paprika, cumin, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini and garlic into a blender and process on high until hummus is smooth and creamy. Season with salt & pepper to taste. If hummus is too thick, add about a tablespoon or two of water while processing to thin it out. Serve hummus with cilantro drizzled on top.
