Jalapeño Hummus (no tahini)
/I hope you know by now I’m all about eating healthy without sacrificing flavor. There is no need for healthy food to be boring and bland. I’m all about upgrading less than healthy recipes and making them not only taste good, but provide more health benefits too.
I’m a huge fan of hummus but when I look for it at the store, I rarely find that one doesn’t contain weird preservatives or vegetables oils like canola or soybean. I’m all about reading ingredient lists and not looking for calories, etc on the food label. Our bodies are so, so intelligent and when we fuel them with whole foods (foods closest to their natural state) or foods that haven’t been altered much, they know exactly what to do with these nutrients and we don’t need to focus on calories. It’s all about eating intuitively for your body and eating foods that contain ingredients you can pronounce and not filling your body with a lot of processed foods and chemicals.
A few reasons I love hummus are:
It’s great for a snack with gluten-free crackers or vegetables
Adds extra flavor to your vegetables and salads
The main ingredient is chickpeas which is a great source of plant based protein and fiber
There are so many ingredients to add to boost flavor; jalapeño, cilantro, garlic, red peppers, shallots, and spices.
It’s no secret that I love spicy food. Hot sauce is a staple in my pantry/fridge and I love to add jalapeños and peppers to my recipes. I think it adds such good flavor and makes the recipe more interesting. I wanted to experiment with a jalapeño hummus because I wanted a hummus with a kick, but wasn’t satisfied with any I had found at the store. I’m also not a fan of tahini AT ALL and most hummus recipes call for it. There’s no doubt it might make the recipe a little creamier (cringing at that word because we all know it’s a weird one) but I’m just not a fan. Maybe I haven’t tried the right brand? I’m open if anyone has recommendations., but I decided to make a tahini-free hummus for this recipe and I’m happy with how it turned out.
Creating new recipes is such a fun and creative outlet for me, but it’s important to know that whenever I have an idea to make something, it doesn’t mean it will turn out how I planned. I’ve had some major failures but I learn from them and it’s all part of the process.
I was happy with how this turned out because surprisingly enough, I’ve never made homemade hummus before and the flavor of this recipe is so good. The cool thing with a recipe like this is that you just throw everything in a food processor and add a little bit of this and a little bit of that until you’re happy with the flavor and consistency. I take the guesswork out for you by providing exact measurements of the ingredients I used, but feel free to customize and add a little bit more of something if you want! Recipes are just blueprints and can be changed according to your preferences.
Ingredients:
1 15oz can of chickpeas
1 medium jalapeño
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
Directions:
Rinse the chickpeas and put them into a food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients into the food processor with the chickpeas and pulse until smooth and well combined.
Pour hummus into a bowl and top with olive oil, sea salt, and red pepper flakes.
With love,
Ashley
