Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I have a hard time buying foods I know how to make. I'm just cheap that way. The girls at work are forever eating hummus and I'm always mentally commenting, "Ooh, hummus. That sounds good." But then I never make it. I'm also lazy that way.

I'm also a strong believer in putting better ingredients into foods so I'm not eating all that processed crap. Don't get me wrong, I still love processed food (Doritos will be in heaven if I get there), I just want to eat less and less of it in our diet. Lord help me when this summer rolls around though. I'm planning on making my own ice cream.

I forgot to include the e.v. olive oil in the photo. Whoopsie.

Some people use that liquid in the dip. I don't know, I just don't like the thick consistency or something.

And I've rinsed these before and this foamy stuff always appears...just unappetizing to me.

There. Much better.

Dump into the food processor. Do you see that little green thing out of focus? I don't know what it was. Probably an unripened bean or something. And that's why you rinse.

Costco sells these big jars of fire roasted red peppers. Yes!

Some tahini, gotta have it for hummus.

I just chop the garlic clove into some smaller pieces, just to give the food processor a head start.

Salt & pepper.

Then I was wondering why it was so thick & it wouldn't blend.

Duh, I forgot the olive oil.

There we go.

Now we're getting there.

Now scrape down the sides.

Preferably w/ your customized spatula. Tien rocks.

Adjust for seasoning. Pulse to blend.

I like to put it in a jar and cover w/ a little olive oil.

So pretty. Enjoy!

All I had was tortilla chips but normally I'd eat w/ pita.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

makes about 1.5 cups of hummus

1 10 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained

1 large roasted red pepper

1 1/2 tsp. tahini

1/4 c. lemon juice (the juice of about 1 lemon)

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 clove garlic

Rinse beans until the foam disappears. Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Enjoy w/ veggies or pita chips as a dip.

Wacky-mole

I made this mistake of setting a bunch of unripe bananas on top of my unripe avocados. The result? Super ripe avocados and bananas. If you ever find yourself in the same conundrum, I have answers for you my friend.

What to do w/ all those bananas? Make this.

And the avocados? How about some guacamole? I call it 'wacky-mole' since I mostly use lemon juice. It's traditionally made w/ lime juice but I just don't carry limes in my fridge. Don't hate.

You're thinking you'll be relegated to dipping chips or topping Mexican food w/ this condiment, right? Wrong. A pretty popular sandwich chains makes this awesome sandwich. I had all the stuff to make my own version of the Turkey Bacon Guacamole and that's exactly what I made.

Remove flesh from the skin and depit this thing. Is that even a word? Spellcheck says no, but I'd like to petition.
See all those brown spots? These avocados were on death's door. I had to do a little surgery to remove all the brown stuff.

What makes this guacamole wacky - lemons.

Ok, so it's not that wacky. Sue me. I was having some blog writer's block.

Cilantro - classic.

Makes me think of summer.

Smashy.

Isn't the color weird in this picture?

Ooh, that's better. I only mash for a sec. Then I switch over to the knife so I get some really nice large chunks of avocado.

See that big chunk? Slice it instead of mashing.

I've made this guacamole w/ the slicing method only and it's super good. My pretty.

Ok, weird color again. And I'm too lazy to fix it in Photoshop.

It's so time consuming. Right, Tien?

Tien, are you there? It's me, Margaret.

I finally had to take one w/ the flash to make sure my eyes weren't funny.

But my eyes are funny.

Ok, I'm not writing up a recipe for a sandwich b/c that's just plain dumb.

So, take some bread. I've started liking these little sandwich thins. Only 100 calories.

So I feel less guilty about piling on the cheddar cheese.

Spinach. Guilt diminishing.

Tomatoes. Gorgeous gorgeous tomatoes. Or 'tomats' as Momma Sally likes to say.

I like to salt & pepper my tomats. It's just how it should be.

Turkey.

Bacon, one slice only. I didn't eat any bacon that morning.
Then a big shmear of wacky-mole.

Whoa. Yes friends, those are Doritos and I make no apologies.

Wacky-mole

makes roughly 3 cups, depending on the size of the avocados, about 8-10 servings

4 avocados (I had med to large sized, a little extra ripe)

1/2 c. lemon juice (about the juice of 2 lemons)

1/3 c. chopped cilantro

4 cloves garlic (this makes it SUPER garlicky, which I love)

2 tsp. salt (trust me, you need it)

1/2 tsp. pepper

Start by mincing garlic finely - I used a microplane to get an almost paste-like consistency. Split avocados lengthwise by running your knife along the round pit. Twist halves to split. Carefully remove the pit. Scoop out contents of the avocados. Immediately pour lemon juice on to the avocados to avoid browning. Add remaining ingredients and mash with a potato masher. If you like super chunky guacamole, use a knife only (in a glass or metal bowl) to slice the avocados. If a more creamy texture is desired, keep mashing or put everything in a food processor. I like mine somewhere in between if not more on the chunky side. Serve w/ pita or tortilla chips or use as a sandwich spread instead of mayo!

This stuff can turn brown pretty quickly so I say if you're not planning on using it right away, cut the recipe in half or else you'll have a bunch of Wacky-Moldy (bu-dum-chhh).