Hummus!

Happy New Year! I hope every one's year has started out wonderfully! How are your resolutions coming along? If you made a resolution along the lines of eating healthier, well, I can help you with that! I am not posting as much as I would like, so my resolution is to increase my posts! With this in mind, I decided to whip up a quick post. I decided this after eating leftovers for dinner and running a couple of errands. With dinner already in my belly and half of my kitchen being occupied, (Jared trying to put together an awful piece of furniture)

Jared enjoying a honey stick

I decided to make some more hummus. (I made some three days ago and we ate it all.) Hummus is one of my favorite dishes. I just love it! It is so versatile, delicious and nutritious. I pack it in my lunch with fresh veggies and chips or I use it as a spread in my wraps and sandwiches. I prefer my hummus thicker in consistency than normal, but this means it will have more calories. Many recipes call for water, mine does not, but if you prefer a lighter hummus just add a bit of water. I also roasted my garlic instead of using raw garlic. By roasting the garlic, you will get a much more milder garlic flavor without the harsh after bite. I chose this recipe tonight because it is very easy to make (perfect for only having half of a kitchen!)

Start off with roasting your garlic - I did not fully roast mine, I just baked it for about 10 minutes to get rid of the bite.
Ingredients

Roasted Garlic
3 large garlic cloves (unpeeled)
1/4 tablespoon olive oil

Hummus
2 cans of chickpeas (rinse & drained)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 lemons juiced
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of paprika (or to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. lightly coat garlic in olive oil



 3. Bake for about 10 minutes until slightly golden

While the garlic is in the oven:
1. Juice lemons
2. Rinse and drain chickpeas
When your garlic is ready & cool enough to handle:
3. Peel Garlic
4. Combine all ingredients into a food processor until it is an even texture

5. If you prefer your hummus thinner add a tablespoon water at a time until your desired consistency. Because    you are watering it down, you may want to add more garlic, salt and or paprika.
6. Enjoy!

Notes:
If you are using raw garlic, use only 1-2 cloves, especially if you are planning to save the hummus.


Nutritional information
This recipe make approximately 13 to 14 servings - 2 tablespoons
Each serving has
85 calories
5 grams of fat
.5 grams of saturated fat
2.5 grams of protein

Roasted Dill Lemon Chickpeas

 Fantastic news for me! My kitchen is fully operational! I am still lacking groceries, but I was too excited not to cook something.

Every once and a while, I will make a batch of roasted chickpeas and snack on them all week. They are great hot or cold and you can make them in so many different ways. As I mentioned, I am lacking groceries, so I used some of the things I had laying around.

Ingredients:

2 cans of garbanzo beans

1/4 of an onion

1 juiced lemon

2 tablespoon olive oil

4 sprigs of fresh dill or approximately 3 tablespoons of dill

Salt to taste

Any additional spices you would like

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Rinse and drain garbanzo beans (make sure beans are dry)

3. Mince onion

4. Shred dill

5. Mix beans, onions, and half of the dill

6. Drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice

7. Mix well

8. Salt to taste (& any other spices you would like)

9. Stick in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes - until golden brown
10. Mix in the remaining dill

Enjoy!

Nutritional information

6 Servings

166 calories

 55 fat calories

7 grams of fat

7 grams of protein