HERB HUMMUS

Quite a few years ago I used to make my own hummus and ate it quite frequently. I ate it so often that I needed to take a break from it as I couldn't stand to eat it anymore. Eventually over time, I started to buy hummus from the grocery store and got back into eating it but not as an every day staple. I would buy different kinds of hummus - garlic, red pepper, artichoke and onion. I would have trouble eating all of the hummus I would buy if I bought it from Costco as the containers are large and sometimes you get two in a package. The DH wouldn't eat hummus as frequently as I did so the hummus would sometimes spoil before I could consume it all. 

I had the bright idea this week to make hummus instead of buying it and I could make a smaller batch. I am also trying to eat less cheese and hummus is a great substitute for me as a snack or to spread on veggies or bread as part of a meal. In making this herb hummus I used fresh chives, mint and parsley from the garden. I also used canned chickpeas with no added salt. Instead of using canned chickpeas, you could use dry chickpeas and cook them ahead of time. The flavours of the herbs, chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and agave syrup are a great combination. The hummus turned out great and the DH said he liked it and it passed his seal of approval. 

After mixing in the small food processor.

Ready for sampling.

INGREDIENTS:

1 glove garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

zest of one lemon, optional

1/4 cup tahini

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 small bunch of parsley

6 fresh stalks of chives

6 fresh mint leaves

1.5 tsp maple syrup or agave

1 large can, 540 ml, of chick peas, drained and rinsed

up to 1/4 cup of water 

salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a food processor, add the garlic, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil and agave/maple syrup. Puree to make a paste. Coarsely chop the herbs and add them to the food processor. Puree the herbs with the paste. Add the chickpeas and bit of salt to taste. Puree the mixture. You can add a bit of water to thin out the hummus and get the consistency you want. If you like hummus to be very smooth, puree for longer. Makes 2 cups. Store in a container with a lid in the fridge. Will keep for five days.

Adapted from Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton.

BANANA PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES

With having enough bananas frozen in the freezer, I decided to make these banana peanut butter oatmeal cookies using ripe bananas that were not going to be eaten by myself or the DH. I prefer firmer versus soft bananas and once soft, they get frozen to use in smoothies. I adapted this recipe from Mark Bittman's cookbook 'How to Bake Everything'. The cookies use rolled oats and no flour. Since the bananas are sweet, minimal sugar is added. For fat, I used coconut oil. This is the oil that reminds me of Crisco, it is not liquid. It does get softer in the pantry during the summer months as compared to winter when the temperatures are colder. I used chopped almonds for the 1/2 cup of nuts in the ingredient list. I made a few modifications which I included in the ingredients. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats. I added another 1/4 cup or so as I thought the batter was not thick enough. This can be due to using agave instead of dry sugar. The original recipe also calls for toasting the roll oat flakes in the oven for 15 minutes before making the cookies and I deleted that step. 

The cookies were delicious and got the stamp of approval. You could have these for breakfast as an option.

Cookies cooling on the cookie sheet. 

Sampling the cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsp butter or coconut oil, melted 
3 large ripe bananas
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3 tbsp sugar, dry or agave or maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon 

If you don't use PD2, you can use 1/2 cup peanut butter instead of the butter or coconut oil. The peanut butter will need to be softened first in the microwave.

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the melted fat and vanilla and mix. Add the egg and combine well. If you are using the PB2 powder add it to this wet mixture. If you are using agave or maple syrup also add it to the wet mixture and combine.  

In a separate medium size bowl, mix the oats, sugar (if using), nuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.   

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until combined.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it. Drop the batter by large tablespoons onto the cookie sheets with about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling. Store in a container in the fridge. Makes between 1.5 to 2 dozen cookies. 

Adapted from Mark Bittman 'How to Bake Everything'.

LEMON RASPBERRY MUFFINS

The DH likes fresh berries with his morning cereal. Sometimes the raspberries spoil too quickly in the container and I hate throwing them out in in the compost bin as they are pricier berries. An option is to use them in baking or freeze them for smoothies. Recently there was a container of fresh raspberries in the fridge that were looking like they needed to be eaten or cooked with, so I made a batch of lemon raspberry muffins. Friends were over visiting and helped with the sampling. Everyone enjoyed the muffins.

Flour mixture, wet ingredients and raspberries.

Ready for going into the oven.

Just out of the oven.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup plain yogurt, I used Greek 0% fat yogurt
3 tbsp vegetable oil or mild olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar, I used Splenda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 generous cup of fresh or frozen raspberries


DIRECTIONS:

In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg. Add the yogurt, oil and lemon juice and mix well. In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and zest. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the flour mixture. Combine and try to not over mix. If the batter is too stiff, add a little bit of milk. I found the batter to be stiff and I ended up adding 1/4 cup almond milk. Add the raspberries and combine.

Spoon the batter into muffins cups. I use muffin cup liners to make it easier to get the cooked muffins out of the individual tins. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12 to 16 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tin.