Fresh Spicy Pepper Hummus

So recently I have stopped buying hummus from the grocery store.  I almost always have every ingredient on hand that we might need to whip up a batch at any given moment.  I thought about it a couple weeks ago and realized I am wasting $2.99 per week by buying something we can already make at home.  The only thing that I am often lacking is a some sort of pepper to add to the hummus.  Matt loves spicy hummus and if I want him to help me eat some of it (which if I am being honest, some weeks I really just don't-I want to hog all the hummus to myself), I know I need to make it spicy.

So with that spicy challenge in mind, I bought a Cubanelle pepper this week at Publix.  It cost me $.18.  I love that price!  I am working on perfecting my homemade hummus to Mat''s heat-level liking but I am pretty sure I hit the jackpot this week.  (Here's a little information on the Cubanelle Pepper just in case you were interested.)  I love making hummus.  I love how easy it is, how versatile, and how interesting the flavors can be.  Hummus is just a winner all around.  I hope you like this recipe if you have the chance to make it.  It literally took me less than 15 minutes from start to finish and yielded just about 2 cups.  What more could you ask for?  I hope you enjoy!

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Fresh Pepper Hummus

1 medium-sized pepper (jalapeno, cubanelle, red pepper, whatever kind and hotness you prefer)
1 1/2 cups chickpeas
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 cup water
salt to taste

Seed and roughly chop the pepper.  Place it in the food processor.  Process until finely minced.  Add the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and water to the food processor.  Process for approximately 4-7 minutes.  This will allow for ultimate hummus creaminess.  Every once in a while during the 4-7 minutes, stop the food processor, add any needed salt, and see if the desired consistency has been reached.  Once desired consistency is reached, chill and enjoy!

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Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower

I love cauliflower.  I would almost go as far to say that it is my favorite vegetable.  Any time I see a cauliflower dish on a menu, I am immediately drawn to it.  Cauliflower soup. Sign me up.  Steamed cauliflower. Yes, please! Parmesan roasted cauliflower. Give me a large portion of that dish.

In the February 2013 edition of BonAppetit, they have a recipe called Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower.  As I was looking over the magazine, this recipe immediately stood out to me as a "must-make."  Here's the link to the recipe:  Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower  Of course, as we have discussed, the recipe was based around cauliflower so I am immediately biased.  However, the addition of the parmesan cheese just solidified the possibility of deliciousness.  Normally I don't love cheese added to my vegetables but parmesan is a different story.  The sharp taste of just-shredded parmesan cheese causes any dish to sing. In my mind, adding it to cauliflower would only enhance the flavor.

As the cauliflower was roasting, my stomach began to rumble at the wonderful smells.  The recipe calls for an onion but I didn't have an extra onion lying around. I just used a shallot in the onion's place.  I also left out the garlic and thyme because I didn't have either of those ingredients.  I was not disappointed by this recipe.  The parmesan and cauliflower combination was spectacular.  The roasted vegetables with the sharpness of the cheese created this amazingly rich and flavorful dish. This could easily be added as a very classy, simple side dish to many types of meals.  I hope you enjoy!

Arugula Butter: A Zesty Butter Addition

This past weekend has been a creative and cooking filled weekend for me.  I have loved it!  On two separate occasions I have pulled out my food processor to help in the cooking preparation.  My food processor and I have a love/hate relationship.  I hate cleaning this monster of a cooking device after using it, however, I always love the end result of whatever food item I am trying to create.  As I am thinking and writing at this moment, I am quickly realizing that my love for this magical machine quickly outweighs my disliking of washing dishes.  The way my food processor can chop, mince, and complete obliterate any item placed in it always blows my mind.  It is seriously magical to watch.  (If you don't have a food processor, I highly recommend you get one.  Your life will be changed forever.)

I have used arugula butter in previous recipes but have only made it in small batches at a time.  While trying to see what leftovers we had in the refrigerator, I found a huge bag of arugula I had bought last Sunday at the Farmer's Market.  I had completely forgotten about it!  As I inspected the bag, I noticed only a couple of the leaves were slightly wilted and looking on the older side.  I was actually quite impressed with this because sometimes those bags of salad only seem to last four or five days before going bad.  This arugula had made it an entire week hidden in a corner of the fridge.

In hopes of not loosing the entire bag of delicious arugula to wilted grossness in the next couple days, I decided I was going to use it to make a large batch of arugula butter to keep in my fridge for later use.  I love to throw a spoonful of this butter on hot couscous or even whole wheat pasta.  It adds such a zest and peppery taste to a possibly plain pasta or grain dish.  Sprinkle these dishes with some parmesan cheese and you got yourself simply a masterpiece.  I hope you enjoy!
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Arugula Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, chopped into tablespoon blocks
7-8 cups of arugula
1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Place blocks of butter in food processor along with two cups of arugula.  Pulse for about 10 seconds or until most of the arugula is mixed with the butter.  Add two more cups of arugula.  Pulse until mixed.  Continue adding and pulsing until all the arugula has been added.  Pour in the lemon juice.  Pulse.  Add salt.  Pulse for about 10-15 more seconds or until desired consistency has been reached.  Taste and add more salt if needed.  Store in a sealed container.

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Super Easy Baked Potato Wedges

This past week, I had high hopes for creating a vegetarian pinto bean burger that would blow my socks off.  Although I made the attempt, no socks were blown off with the end burger that was created.  However, I had also decided to make and bake some simple potato wedges to go along with the burger  These potato wedges quickly became the highlight of the meal.  Therefore, in the mindset of sharing good recipes, today I am going to post about the unexpectedly delightful potato wedges.

This recipe is as simple as can be.  I began by preheating the oven at 400 degrees.  I took four large baking potatoes and cut each potato in half. 

Then I took each of those potato halves and cut the halves into four wedges.  I threw all the wedges into a big bowl of cold water and let them sit in the water for about 15 minutes.  (This helps get rid of some of the extra starch on the potato and allows for optimal crispiness.)  I drained the water off the potatoes and put them back in the original big bowl.  Then I poured about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a good-sized sprinkling of Kosher salt on the wedges. I mixed them thoroughly with my hands until they were well coated with the oil and salt.  

Using my largest non-stick cooking sheet, I laid out each wedge flat on the sheet.  I baked them for 30 minutes, took them out, flipped each wedge over, and then baked them for another 15 minutes.  Then I took them out of the oven again, flipped them, and baked them from for an additional 15 minutes.  There was a total of 45 minutes of bake time when everything was said and done.  

These turned out so great! I totally thought these potato wedges were just going to be a good side note to the burger.  I was pleasantly surprised when they were delicious, crispy, and just salty enough.  Next time I make these, I might add some Italian seasoning to them or chili powder or garlic salt or rosemary.  The possibilities are endless! I hope you enjoy.

Couscous Spectacular

When I think of couscous, I immediately think of roasted red pepper.  I am not quite sure why I associate those two ingredients because I don't actually have a ton of experience with either of them but especially with regular, small couscous.  My heart belongs to the larger, Israeli whole wheat couscous which I use in as many recipes as possible.  As I have mentioned in a previous post, on Sunday we had a church potluck after the service.  The Mint Chocolate Chip Bars were one of the items I took.  The other item was a couscous salad with roasted red peppers, spinach, toasted walnuts, parmesan, and feta cheese. 

Even with my lack of couscous experience, I thought making a cold salad would be a nice addition to the church potluck.  Because of my association between couscous and roasted red peppers, I decided to use those two ingredients as the building blocks.  Below you will find the recipe I came up with.  It actually turned out really nice.  We had about three servings leftover after the potluck.  I just took it home, added more chopped spinach, and found myself with three couscous spinach salads for lunch on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Quite a nice deal.  I hope you enjoy!

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Spinach, Walnut, and Roasted Red Pepper Couscous

1 box of couscous (whichever flavor you like best)

1/2 cup of whole walnuts (or 1/4 cup of pine nuts), toasted and chopped

1/2 of a 12oz jar of roasted red peppers, cut into small pieces

2 cups fresh, chopped spinach

2 oz reduced fat feta cheese

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place walnuts on a cookie sheet and cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until slightly browned.  Once cooled, chop the walnuts with a nut chopper and set aside. 

Follow the directions on the couscous box on how to best prepare the couscous.  

While couscous is in process, cut the roasted red peppers into small little pieces. Set to the side.  Chop the spinach into bite-sized pieces and set to the side.

Once couscous has completed cooking and has cooled for 10-15 minutes, add the spinach and the roasted red peppers into the couscous.  Mix well.  Add the walnuts, feta, and parmesan.  Mix well.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve slightly cooled or around room temperature.  This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make and serves between 5-7 people as a side dish.

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Pearled Barley with Roasted Onions and Butternut Squash

Warning!  If you are doing any sort of food cleansing fast, please avoid looking at the pictures and recipe linked below.  Another warning!  These photos do not do this meal justice.

This was the experience Matt had today at school when warming up his leftovers for lunch.  He said a couple of his coworkers are doing a cleansing fast and when they saw him warming up this dish, they basically started asking him all sorts of questions about it.  When he described the dish by saying "roasted butternut squash, roasted onions, and pearled barley topped with goat cheese," it is hard to blame them for drooling.  

Here is the link to the original recipe from 101cookbooks.com: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/farro-and-roasted-butternut-squash-recipe.html  

As you will see from the link, the original recipe calls for farro instead of barley.  Because I didn't have any farro but I did have some leftover pearled barley, I just did some ingredient swapping.  From what I can tell farro and barley are often used as substitutions for each other.  And man, let me tell you, this dish turned out nutty delicious!  Barley has a very nutty texture and taste which compliments the butternut squash so well.  Topped this dish with goat cheese and you've got yourself a little slice of heaven.  I have already told my mother that this is going to be a perfect recipe to compliment our Thanksgiving dinner.  It is a little different from the a more traditional rice and/or butternut squash dishes out there but definitely a winner!  

Starving on a Sunday Afternoon

Sometimes when I get really hungry, I get really mean and angry.  I have heard many people call this feeling "hangry." As a counselor, I am endorsing this feeling.  Sometimes you do get angry because you are just so, so hungry!  This emotion makes sense to me.

Yesterday after church I could feel "hangry" coming on in full force.  Maybe it was because of the time change but when we got home, I was ravenous.  As I sat in silence on the way home from church (I was trying to avoid letting the hangry out), I began planning what my lunch was going to look like.  I knew we had spinach (as always), some parmesan cheese, butter (praise Jesus!), and whole wheat Israeli couscous.  Although I knew it might take about 20 minutes to make, I decided to experiment with these ingredients in order to satisfy my desire for a hearty lunch.

Below is the end result of my experimenting.  It turned out to be a great success!  In case you care, this meal was 7 Weight Watcher points.  That is an ideal amount for one of my lunches.  It was also the perfect serving size.  Matt had eaten a late breakfast so he was not interested in my couscous concoction.  The serving size below is just right for one person.  Add a piece of fruit and you got yourself a meal!  If you try it, I hope you enjoy.

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Whole Wheat Couscous with Spinach and Parmesan
(makes a 1 cup serving for 1 person)

1/2 cup whole wheat Israeli couscous
1 cup chicken broth
3 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 tablespoon butter
shake of red pepper flakes
1 pinch of salt
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Bring chicken broth to a boil.  Add couscous, stir one time, and lower heat to a simmer.  Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes or until couscous is cooked through.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pan.  Add spinach to pan.  Sprinkle spinach with the salt and red pepper flakes.  Cook until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally.  Take off heat and set aside.

When couscous is cooked, add spinach and stir.  Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

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Nice Looking Bean Dip

On Friday night, Matt and I were supposed to go to a Halloween/Fancy party at some church friends' house.  We didn't end up going because Matt has been fighting off his fall allergies.  About 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave, he started sneezing, sneezing, sneezing.  Because we knew our friends' had three cats (which Matt happens to be allergic to), we figured going over to their house when he was already sneezing would not be a good idea.  So we stayed home and watched "Arrested Development."  I drank wine and he drank some beer.  Clearly even with the sneezing, the night was not a bust. 

But before the sneezing attack of November 2012 began, I made some bean dip to take to the party.  I didn't quite know what I was doing in making this bean dip.  I was inspired by a bean/avocado dip my friend Holly's husband makes every time we go to Hilton Head and by a dip my aunt makes called "Red Neck Caviar."  Unfortunately, I did not have time to look up either of these recipes so I decided to be creative and just try something new.  I think this dip turned out pretty good.  I will be honest though, I am slightly biased because I love all things bean.  And I loved the way this dip looked!  I thought the colors of the beans, corn, and cilantro looked so pretty together.  I don't know if you should base your review of a dip on how it looks but this one is very nice looking.  And it was tasty!

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Nice Looking Bean Dip (again, this is a working title)

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 can kidney beans

1 package of italian seasoning

shake of pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

pinch of cayanne pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped

Combine black beans, corn, and kidney beans in a large bowl. Stir. Add italian seasoning, pepper, garlic powder, cayanne pepper, olive oil, red wine vinegar and stir.  Chop cilantro and add to bean mixture.  Chill for about an hour before serving.

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PS- Because we didn't end up going to the party and because the bean dip wouldn't be eaten before going bad, I rinsed off the seasoning and plan to use the beans and corn Monday in a chili.  We will see how that goes. Wish me luck!

Hot Pepper Hummus

While in Nashville, I raided my sweet friend Mary's pepper plants.  I brought home quite a few varieties and to be honest, I had no idea what any of them were called.  After doing some research, I found out I had a couple habanero peppers, some hot red peppers, and two banana peppers.  What a wonderful mix!

So this week, most of my recipes will involve some sort of pepper.  Today's recipe is Hot Pepper Hummus.   Don't be fooled!  It actually isn't that spicy at all.  I just am calling it Hot Pepper Hummus based on the name of the actual pepper.  The hummus has just a little bit of heat which comes primarily from the cayanne pepper in the recipe.  If you wanted to avoid spice entirely, feel free to leave it out.  I hope you enjoy!

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Hot Pepper Hummus

5 hot pepper, halved and seeded
1 clove garlic
2 15oz can of chickpeas
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
pinch of cayanne pepper
8 tablespoons olive oil, added one tablespoon at a time

Add halved and seeded peppers to a food processor.  Process peppers until they are minced.  Add the garlic and pulse until mixed with the peppers.  Add chickpeas, salt, cayanne pepper.  Process this, adding one tablespoon of olive oil at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Late night hummus

This weekend our friend Steve is back in town for a wedding.  We went to dinner last night at one of our favorite restaurants in Atlanta called West Egg Cafe.  At West Egg, they have a fabulous butterbean hummus which we get almost every time we go.  As we were enjoying it last night, I realized there was a pretty good chance that I could make a hummus similar to that one.  Not a definite chance but I thought I would give it a try.

While Matt and Steve were off seeing a movie, I ran to Publix looking for a can of butterbeans.  After much looking to no avail, I decided to check the frozen section.  This is where I found what I was looking for.  A frozen bag of buttepeas (which I assumed where the same as butterbeans)!  On the way home, I began imagining what exactly I would put in my butterpea hummus.  Below is what I came up with.  This recipe took about 5 minutes to make and produced probably a little less than 2 cups of hummus.  Quite a success in my book! In the Slye household, we recently began eating our hummus with pretzels.  It is quite a nice change from the traditional pita chip.  I hope you enjoy!

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Slightly Spicy Butterpea Hummus

16 oz bag of frozen butterpeas, thawed
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayanne pepper (or a little more if you like really spicy hummus)
5 tablespoons olive oil, added one at a time while food processor is blending the beans.

Combine all ingredients into a food processor.  Pulse until the desired consistency is reached.  Drizzle with a little olive oil.  Serve with pretzels, pita chips, vegetables, or whatever your heart desires.

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