Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘hummus’

Hummus With Sweet Potato

Posted by terrepruitt on August 24, 2013

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga

I have mentioned before that I have fantastic Nia students.  Well, I also have fabulous students in my gentle yoga class.  When I posted about green beans being the only beans I like, except garbanzo beans in a couple of recipes, one of my students commented asking if I liked hummus.  Turns out she just made some with sweet potato.  I asked if she wanted to guest post or give me the recipe so that I could post it.  Just as I say about recipes she used the original recipe as a guide and made it her own.  She gave me kinda what she did (pictured). In addition to bringing me the recipe she actually brought me some hummus.  In a little baggie!  So cute.  So sweet of her.  It was a perfect addition to our dinner that night because I hadn’t really planned a well-rounded meal since I spent a good portion of the day at the vet’s office with my cat.  You know that all medications have side effects and one of hers had a big one so we are now on a different plan on how to handle her issue in order to deal with the issue that came up as a side effect.  I had my very first Thursday morning Nia class that will be Thursdays at 8:30 am the same day.  So being at the vet for hours then coming home and having to get some stuff done before having to leave for Gentle Yoga didn’t leave me time to think about dinner in detail.  So having the sweet potato hummus to serve with a raw bell pepper helped a lot.  And it was delicious.  I modified it only by roasting the sweet potatoes and adding more water.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaHummus With Sweet Potato:

Ingredients (pictured)

1 cup peeled and chopped up roasted sweet potato* (I measured it AFTER I roasted it)
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup Tahini
7 garlic cloves, roasted (or raw)**
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup water (not pictured)

Peel and chop a sweet potato.  Roast it in the oven (at about 450° F with garlic salt and olive oil).  Until it is cooked to your liking.***

Put all ingredients in the blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.****  You can start with less water than 1/4 cup and add as you see fit.*****

________________________________

Recipe notes

*I measured the sweet potato AFTER I roasted it

**I used roasted garlic

***I roasted the sweet potato less than I would have if I were eating it

****I don’t have a food processor, I used my blender and I had to scrape and pulse quite a lot.  I did not drizzle with oil or sprinkle with paprika.

*****I will use the “bean water” next time.  (I forgot that I needed water at all otherwise I would have saved the bean water to use.)

________________________________

As you can see there are two different colored spreads in the picture.  I think we might have used different colored sweet potatoes because I can’t imagine a sprinkle of paprika or her + of cumin would change the color that much.  Can you?

Either way they both were delicious.  Hers was more sweet.  Again not sure if it is because of different potatoes or not.  Could be the roasting.

Either way . . . this recipe is just a guide.  A place to start.  Something to look at to say, “Ok, someone has put sweet potato in a hummus and they thought it was good, now what can I do to make it my own?”

Right?  So . . . . go make it and report back!  🙂

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments »

Still Searching For Creamy

Posted by terrepruitt on October 13, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaAfter subbing with Nia for a Zumba class today, I made a quick stop at the Farmers Market in our corner of San Jose.  I wanted to buy some greens and remembered I could get some pita bread for my hummus.  I finally made hummus with my new blender.  I pretty much followed the hummus recipe I have and I like, but I think I put six teaspoons of the “bean juice” because I was thinking more liquid would make it a little creamier.  I enjoy the creaminess of a specific brand that we used to buy.  As I mentioned in my blender post the last few times I made hummus I ended up with whole-bean hummus which isn’t hummus at all, it is just garbanzo beans.  So I was thinking that with a super blender it would make creamier hummus.  Well, it is not creamier.  So the creaminess is not just from blending.  And there were still a few bean pieces, but not whole beans as in my last batch and not as many.  This batch was also not as grainy, in general, as the last batch.  I like making hummus in this blender as opposed to the other blenders or small chopper I have because it is easier to get it out.  I have been told the best way to do it is in a food processor, but I don’t have one of those.  And I think I have enough appliances at the moment, I will make do with my new super blender.Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba

I made hummus for my niece once and I was talking about how I wanted it creamier so she jumped on the internet and found a website where a woman claimed that the secret to creamy hummus was taking of the HULLS or whatever that “shell” is on the bean.  Do you know what I am talking about?  That odd ectoskeleton that the beans seem to have?  Well, my thought process is that the hull of the bean is part of what give the bean its fiber so I don’t want to remove it.  That and, who wants to sit there and pull, pick, peel, or just make sure that the hull is off all the beans?  Not me.  I want the fiber AND that is one thing I am not willing to spend time on.  The “uncreamy” hummus is not THAT bad.  I think I will experiment with more liquid.  More oil maybe?  Or maybe more been juice?  Maybe that will help it been more creamy.  I don’t want it more watery, I want it more CREAMY.  But it was a good batch.

I think the WildSide container that came with the blender allows for a lot of air to be whipped into the blends.  I believe that is how this blender does not require a tamper as some blenders do.  But it does whip air into things.  I think it whipped a bit of air into the hummus, which is fine.  Made it a little light and fluffy.

So I have been using my blender and I have been using for what I wanted it for.  I use it almost everyday for smoothies and today, I used it for hummus.  I am satisfied with the way it made the hummus.  I am a little disappointed that it is not as creamy as I was hoping, but I have learned (I believe) that the secret to creamy hummus must be in the ingredients.  If it truly is the peeling of the hulls then creamy hummus will not come out of my kitchen.  Ha!  Well, I guess one day I could experiment to see if that really does make a difference, but it will not become the norm.  I don’t need creamy hummus that badly, my new blender does it just fine!

Besides buying it, what is the key to creamy hummus?

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Birthday Puts Me In The Green

Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaThis year my husband was really on the ball.  In July he started asking me what I wanted for my birthday.  Since going out of town isn’t something we have in our budget, I thought about it for a bit, then decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I wanted to go to a bed a breakfast place on the coast that we both love.  So I got my heart set on a weekend at THAT particular bed and breakfast. When I looked it up on the internet I was happy to see it is still there, however, it is no longer a bed and breakfast establishment.  The house is for rent as a vacation rental, but it is no longer a place to rent a room for the weekend.  I was sad.  I was so bummed that one of our places is gone.  Plus I was bummed because I had to come up with something else for my birthday.  He asked me every month.  I thought I had found something, but then circumstances changed and so that didn’t work out.  Then I remembered there was a time when I entertained the thought of one of those super blenders.  But really, to me that is an outrageous purchase unless you are really going to use it.  Having it sit in my cupboard would be a waste.  In my opinion there are a lot of things that are outrageous if they just sit and not get used, but when I use things often I feel I get my money’s worth.  I would like to include more vegetables in my diet.  I like to serve a green salad every night and a vegetable, so I was thinking another way to add fruits and vegetables would be to make green smoothies.  I don’t drink fruit smoothies so I really wanted to TRY a green one before I had my hubby make the investment.  I hear that green smoothies are an acquired taste and I don’t just want to blend fruit.  I want more veggies than fruit.  But then I started looking at some recipes online of other things I could make in a “super blender”.  I think I have posted about how my hummus is not smooth.  I made a joke about being the inventor of “whole bean” hummus — which is basically just chickpeas.  So I thought I could use the power of a super blender to make hummus.  So I decided to ask for a blender for my birthday.

When I received my blender I didn’t have any greens, but I was going to get some delivered the very next day.  In my box I received a new-to-me veggie.  The box contained Rainbow Chard and so I thought I could put that in my first smoothie.  I think of it as a fruit smoothie with some green since it really didn’t have that much green.  I am breaking myself in slowly — as has been suggested.

Another suggestion that I have seen on various website is that if it is an “ugly” green smoothie put it in a mug and if it is a “pretty” green smoothie use a pretty glass.  I think that is just the type of silly suggestion I can follow.  It makes an odd kind of sense.

Well so far I have used my blender four times.  I am sure you are going to hear about each time in future posts.  Well, perhaps not all four times . . . but maybe, we will see.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, ZumbaSo my first fruit/”green” smoothie was:

1 Cup water
1/2 of apple chopped
1 banana (sliced)
1 leaf of rainbow chard (cut up)

My blender has a smoothie button so I just used that and it worked great.  There were NO chunks at all.  What I really love and was somewhat surprised to see is, it comes out frothy!

I think my first “green” smoothie was pretty good.  Although, I think that one leaf of green and 1.5 “fruits” is a larger fruit ratio than I want to stick with.  I am going to work my way up to more greens and less fruit.  My idea is to like and drink the more-veggie-than-fruit smoothies, but also enjoy the more-fruit-than-veggie smoothies when I feel the desire.

I am thinking I might have a smoothie before Nia, but I am not sure.  I usually try not to drink so much liquid before class.  🙂

Have you heard of these blenders that blend SMOOTH smoothies?

Posted in "Recipes", Food, Smoothies, Vegetables | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Tahini Makes The Hummus

Posted by terrepruitt on June 14, 2012

dance exercise, Nia, Nia teacher, Nia class, Nia San JoseI recently tried my hand at making hummus.  I have made it a few times and I keep adjusting the recipe.  The first time it seemed a bit too bitter and sour so I decided the next time I would put in less tahini and lemon.  So I put in less tahini, lemon, and salt and I put in a lot of raw garlic.  Woooeeeee!  That made it kind of spicy and really strong.  Our refrigerator smelled of such strong garlic.  I was thinking that if I cooked the garlic before putting it in the hummus it would make it more mellow.  I was making it in a kitchen other than my own and I forgot my garlic press so I really felt I needed to cook the garlic before putting it in.  This third batch was the best so far.  In addition to the sauteed garlic I was able to use a food processor.  The food processor really made a big difference.  The time before when I used my blender there were many whole beans left.  The blender does not get the beans as well as the food processor.  But I do believe the key ingredient is the tahini.  Despite the fact that it really bitter it has the flavor that makes hummus taste like hummus to me.

dance exercise, Nia, Nia class, Nia teacher, San Jose NiaTahini is ground sesame seeds.  The jar states this tahini is made of roasted then ground sesame seeds.  I am not usually a fan of sesame seeds.  If given a choice I would not eat them, but I do believe they are an important ingredient in hummus.  As I said, I think tahini is the ingredient that gives the hummus that familiar-to-me flavor.dance exercise, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, Nia San Jose

I also think the tahini is the main reason why hummus is a bit high in fat.  The beans themselves have fat, garbanzo beans have 2 grams of fat per half of a cup.  The tahini has 19 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons.  That is a lot of fat.  There is a lot of protein in both the beans and the tahini.  The beans have 7 grams per 1/2 cup and the tahini has 6 grams of protein per 2 tablespoons.  Hummus is a great source of protein.

There is hardly any sodium in the tahini which I think is a good thing because it allows for control of the sodium content in the hummus.  The first batch I made seemed very salty to me so I was able to adjust it with each successive batch.

The marketing on the jar of tahini states that it is a good source of iron and calcium, but it is only 4% of the recommended daily value.  Combined with the beans I think hummus is a good source of iron, but I don’t feel it is high in calcium.

I like to eat hummus as a dip.  I dip veggies in it.  I also like to eat it with pita bread or even corn chips.  I also like to use it as a mayonnaise replacement.  I put it on sandwiches instead of using mayo.  It helps to add a bit of protein and fiber to a sandwich.  Also having the hummus with the tahini in it really adds an additional layer of flavor to a sandwich.  I really think that the tahini is the key to a flavorful hummus.

Are you familiar with tahini?  Do you make your hummus with or without tahini? 

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Homemade Hummus – Needs Some Work

Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2012

You know I started this blog to share things with you.  I wanted to share about Nia, exercises, things I think are healthy, and stuff I learn.  I don’t think I had thought about posting recipes, but I probably didn’t think I would limit myself from doing so.  It is funny that food posts get the most views and even more fun spark the most conversations.  (I love the bloggey conversations.)  We love our food, huh?  It is universal.  Everyone eats.  Not everyone works out, not everyone dances, not everyone goes to exercise classes, and not everyone does Nia, but everyone eats.  Even though we all eat different things it is still something that we all have in common.

Dance Exercies, Nia, Nia Campbell, Campbell Nia, Nia classes in Campbell, evening Nia, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia,As you might have noticed, when I try a new recipe, or just try making something I sometimes like to share.   Even if the recipe still needs some adjustments I have to start somewhere.  I like to post my recipes because I find myself using my blog when I am going to make something.  I can even be at the store and get the idea that I want to make a certain recipe then I think, “Shoot I don’t know what it is in . . . . ahhhh, but I posted it on my blog!”  So I use my blog at the store to grocery shop sometimes.   Here is a recipe of something that I made that I need to work on.

I haven’t always liked hummus, but once I started eating it.  I really liked it.  There is a brand that my husband found that is really good.  It is smooth and creamy.  We used to eat it often.  But it has Canola Oil in it.  I prefer not to eat Canola oil.  I have always wanted to make my own hummus so I thought not eating our favorite brand would inspire me.  It did not.  My issue was tahini.  I don’t think of tahini.  So when I go to the store I am not thinking, “Oh yeah, I need tahini.”  I know you can make hummus without it.  I believe my friend makes hummus all the time and she never used tahini.  I haven’t tasted her hummus that I can remember so I don’t know if it is good without tahini or not.

The other day I was online and I actually bought tahini.  I decided on wanted to finally make some hummus.  There are a lot of recipes out there for hummus so I took some ideas from several of them.  I need to work on it.

Dance Exercies, Nia, Nia Campbell, Campbell Nia, Nia classes in Campbell, evening Nia, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia,I used:

2 cups canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 teaspoons liquid from the beans
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon garlic flavored olive oil

I put everything in the blender and blended until smooth.

I prefer my hummus a little more smooth and actually creamy, but the blender was making odd noises so I didn’t want to push it too far.

First of all I think it is too salty.  Next time I am going to use less salt and less tahini.  I am also going to use less lemon juice.  I am also going to use fresh garlic.  I used some we have from a jar.

Not too bad for my first try, but not so great.  But sometimes I just need to get in there and do it — make the recipe — so I can see it is easy to do so then I can play with it and make adjustments.

Do you like hummus?  Do you make your own?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »