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Hot Pepper Hummus

I was browsing around Son Of Grok’s blog one day when I came across his ‘Primally Delicious Hummus’ recipe. I decided to take a better look, since I knew traditional hummus is a no-no with primal eating due to the chick peas (no legumes). I found that Son Of Grok made his hummus with zucchini instead of chick peas – amazing! Now this, I thought, I gotta try.

This hummus recipe was something I didn’t really plan on making right away, but I kept it in the back of my mind as something I wanted to try eventually. About a month ago Bill and I had a “primal cookout”. We have quite a few friends (mostly crossfitters) who follow The Paleo Diet, and we decided it would be fun to have a little get together and share lots of recipes and tasty meals. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out the hummus.

For the party, I followed SOG’s recipe to the ‘T’, and it turned out fantastic! It tasted just like traditional hummus, I couldn’t get over it. The only problem (which may not be a problem for some), was that I felt it called for a little too much garlic. At first taste, it was delicious, but after a few bites, I felt like I was oozing garlic from my pores, and was a little concerned with speaking too close to some of my friends…

The second time around, I knew how I wanted to modify the recipe for my palate. For this post we made the same hummus recipe but used less garlic, and added another delicious twist: a little kick with some sauteed peppers and toasted pine nuts. At the party (and how I prefer to eat my hummus), we set out lots of fresh veggies for dipping. For this post, I decided to tackle some grain free crackers. I had been wanting to try to bake crackers for a while and figured this was a great opportunity to give it a shot. I got a general idea of ingredients measurements for the cracker recipe from Elana’s Pantry. I had an idea to make flax crackers using flax seed meal, but since I had never made crackers from scratch, let alone grain free crackers from scratch, I needed a base recipe to work from. When we made the crackers I had no idea if they were going to work out (I’m pretty sure I told Bill that they might in fact be awful), but they ended up being delicious!

For the Hummus:
Ingredients:

  • 2 Medium Zucchini, peeled and quartered
  • 3/4 cup Tahini
  • 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 medium/large cloves of minced garlic
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
  • Food Processor or High Speed Blender

Process-

  1. Peel and chop zucchini and place in food processor.
  2. Add in Tahini, Olive Oil, and fresh lemon juice, and blend.
  3. Add garlic, cumin, and salt, and blend thoroughly.

For the peppers and pine nuts:

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped red and green peppers
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • a little salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts

Process:

  1. Saute chopped peppers and red pepper flakes in olive oil until tender.
  2. Lightly toast pine nuts in the toaster oven. (be sure to watch carefully so they do not burn.)

For the eats:

Garnish the hummus with the spicy peppers and pine nuts. Feel free to eat as is, or mix the topping into the hummus. Either way is delicious!


For the Flax Crackers

Ingredients-

  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 cup flax seed meal
  • 1/2 cup whole flax seeds
  • 2 omega 3 eggs, whisked
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Process-

  1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, flax seed meal, eggs, oil, salt, and flax seeds.
  2. Separate dough into two halves (I formed balls).
  3. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  4. Roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/8 inch thick.
  5. Score with a knife, or cut with a pizza cutter into 2 x 2 inch squares.
  6. Sprinkle a little extra salt over the top of the crackers.
  7. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. We recommend checking the crackers after 10 minutes.
  8. Once cooled, break crackers into squares and enjoy!

When Bill and I tried these crackers for the first time, we scaled down the recipe a lot in case they ended up being a bust. For the second time around we used the recipe presented to you here, and we also used sesame seeds instead of the whole flax seeds. Both recipes are quite delicious, give them a try! Enjoy!

Primal Palate Spice Blends

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    COMMENTS

    1. August 20, 2010

      I could eat this every day for the rest of my life! I am a hummus lover to begin with, but the zucchini takes it to a new level. This hummus is also fabulous on a wrap. I like plain old crackers better than the flax, but it is great with veggies as well. Good job, Bill and Hay. YUMMIE!!!

    2. August 20, 2010

      I will be making this some time over the weekend. I love this site and am always excited when I see a new recipe!
      Keep up the great work and I wish you lots of success.
      I am a fan of this site!

    3. August 30, 2010

      How interesting! Hummus made with zucchini. We're huge fans of hummus so we MUST give this a try.

    4. October 16, 2010

      I just made both the hummus (I added more garlic and skipped the pepper/pine nuts) & the crackers. DELISH!! OMG – I'm completely enjoying this on my 'cheat' day (which means I'm avoiding measuring my food…for 1/2 the day).

      Awesome recipe! Thanks for posting!

    5. October 21, 2010

      Glad to hear it worked out for you! It is a very tasty snack to have on hand.

      -Hayley & Bill

    6. January 9, 2011

      I made just the hummus bit for a day trip today, didn't have time for the rest, and frankly, I'm stunned. Fantastic.

    7. May 7, 2011

      I made this for a party, and no one could tell it was zucchini-based! There also aren't leftovers… thanks for a winner!

    8. May 8, 2011

      Nice – glad to hear it! You're welcome!

    9. August 23, 2011

      This was AWESOME!!! I personally think it closely resembles baba ganoush since it's squash based (baba uses eggplant) instead of legume. We just ate a whole bowl of the dip (modified to our tastes) and a whole pan of the crackers. Thanks!!

    10. December 21, 2011

      Have you tried baba ganoush? it's a traditional middle eastern dip similar to your hummus but made with eggplant. The smoky taste from the broiled eggplant is incredible.
      I am new to paleo, I made your eggplant pizza and loved it!
      regards,
      Theresa

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