Flavorful Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I avoid processed foods, but that doesn't mean that I eat only plain, "boring" foods.  I like a little pizzazz and flavor just as much as the next person.  I often find ideas for recipes by strolling through the aisles of the grocery store and drooling over the items that I no longer eat, then going home and figuring out how to make them.
So, I was standing in the store last week scrutinizing the labels on various brands of flavored hummus, trying to find one that fit my needs.  Suddenly, it hit me - I know how to roast a red pepper. I know how to make hummus.  Instead of trying to find a prepackaged hummus without processed ingredients, why don't I just make it myself?  And with that, I bought the ingredients, went home, and made this delicious dip.


FLAVORFUL ROASTED RED PEPPER HUMMUS

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans
1 can navy beans (you can use two cans of garbanzos, but I find that these make the dip a bit creamier)
3 tbsp. tahini
2-4 garlic cloves
2-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste
1 large red pepper
1/2 lemon for juice (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 450.

2.  Place pepper on a lined baking sheet on middle oven rack. Bake for 15 minutes, flip, and bake an additional 15 minutes.

3.  Remove pepper from oven and place in a sealed bag.  Allow the pepper to steam itself until warm to the touch (not hot).  The steaming should make the skin easier to remove from the pepper.

4.  Cut off top of pepper and remove seeds.  Use tongs to peel skin from pepper.  Slice pepper into strips and set aside.

5.  Place beans, tahini, garlic, and 2 tbsp. oil into food processor.  Process until smooth.  Add pepper; process until smooth (feel free to save a little for garnish).  Continue adding oil until desired consistency is reached.

6.  Add salt to taste.  Add lemon juice, if desired.

7. Optional:  garnish with chopped pepper.

Place pepper on a lined baking sheet on middle oven rack.

Bake for 15 minutes, flip, and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Remove pepper from oven and place in a sealed bag.  Allow the pepper to steam itself until warm to the touch (not hot).  The steaming should make the skin easier to remove from the pepper.

Cut of top of pepper and remove seeds.  Use tongs to peel skin from pepper.
Slice pepper into strips and set aside.

Place beans, tahini, garlic, and 2 tbsp. oil into food processor.  Process until smooth.  

Add pepper; process until smooth (feel free to save a little for garnish).
Continue adding oil until desired consistency is reached.

ENJOY!!

Crispy Sweet Potato Chips

I hope I'm not overloading you with sweet potato recipes.  Some of you know that I had pounds and pounds of them to work with back in the fall.  I tried to come up with as many recipes as possible before they went bad, and I'm pleased to report that they were all turned into baby food*, blueberry baked oatmeal with sweet potato puree, oven baked sweet potato fries, and more.  Today's recipe is a quick and easy slice-and-bake that I almost decided to leave out of the blog.  I figured that most people could come up with this on their own if they really wanted some chips.  Still, it's nice to have someone else figure out things like oven temperature, baking time, etc.  I think this is the last of my sweet potato recipes;  I hope you enjoyed them!  I tried to spread them out over the past few months so I didn't have to change my blog name to 'Eat Sweet Potatoes, Feel Good!'

*Please leave a comment if you'd like me to do a baby food post.  I've made a wide variety of organic purees for Baby C, who is eating them with gusto!

CRISPY SWEET POTATO CHIPS

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp cornstarch
sea salt, to taste
non-GMO, no high fructose corn syrup, organic ketchup (for dipping)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Slice sweet potatoes to 1/8 - 1/4 inches thick.  This would be much easier with a mandolin slicer, but I don't have that kind of cash (the good ones are expensive!) so I had to use my trusty kitchen knife instead.

3.  Toss sweet potato slices with olive oil.  Add cornstarch and toss again.  The cornstarch isn't necessary, but it gives the chips a nice crunch.

4.  Place chips on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

5.  Bake for 20 minutes, flip, and add more salt.  Bake for 10 additional minutes.

6.  Remove from oven, cool, and ENJOY!

Slice sweet potatoes to 1/8 - 1/4 inches thick.

Toss sweet potato slices with olive oil.  Add cornstarch and toss again.

Place chips on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 20 minutes, flip, and add more salt.  Bake for 10 additional minutes.

Remove from oven, cool, and ENJOY!

Yum!

...and finally, here's a fun little image that was shared today on one of my favorite blogs - Oh She Glows.  I have to say, this is EXACTLY how I'm feeling today!

Strawberry Salad with Mixed Greens and Strawberry Lime Vinaigrette

My parents and grandparents came over the other day to visit with Baby C.  They told me they'd bring lunch, and I volunteered to make a salad to supplement whatever they packed.  As I was pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator at 10 pm the night before, I realized that I could probably come up with a pretty interesting salad dressing using things we already had on hand.  Believe it or not, I'd never made salad dressing before.  I mean, I had mixed little packets of spices with oil or mayo and plopped it on some iceberg back in the day, but I had never made dressing from scratch.  I figured it couldn't be too difficult, so I  looked at the ingredients listed on a bottle of raspberry vinaigrette and started mixing. I really didn't know where I was going with this when I started, so I just took a lot of pictures of each step and figured that I'd just delete them if it didn't work out.  Luckily, the dressing was great and the salad turned out well, so I'm now able to share it with you.

STRAWBERRY SALAD WITH MIXED GREENS & STRAWBERRY LIME VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients:
1 small cucumber
15-20 small strawberries
1 small apple
6 cups of mixed greens
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. honey
2 limes, juiced
dash salt
Cheese for crumbling (I used queso fresco, but feta would also taste great)

1.  Cut and rinse greens.  Set aside.

2.  Chop cucumber, apple, and 10 strawberries into bite-sized pieces.  Toss with greens.

3.  Add olive oil, balsamic, honey, lime juice, salt, and 5-10 strawberries to food processor.  Pulse until smooth and runny.  I chose to use 10 strawberries.  This produces a very sweet dressing.  You might want to start with 5 and add more to taste.

4.  If serving immediately, toss salad with dressing and crumble desired amount of cheese on top.  Otherwise, store salad and dressing separately and combine before serving.  The day I ate the salad with my family, I left the dressing out for everyone to drizzle as much as they liked.  The next day, I poured the dressing and salad into a covered container and shook it to combine.  I definitely preferred it the second way!

Cut and rinse greens.  Set aside.

Chop cucumber, apple, and 10 strawberries into bite-sized pieces.

Toss with greens.

Add olive oil, balsamic, honey, lime juice, salt, and 5-10 strawberries to food processor.
Pulse until smooth and runny.  (I couldn't get a good picture of this in the food processor,
so I drizzled a little onto a white plate to show the color and consistency.)

If serving immediately, toss salad with dressing and crumble desired amount of cheese on top.  Otherwise, store salad and dressing separately and combine before serving.

Feta Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms for Two

Portabella? Portobello? Portabello? The jury is still officially out on how to spell the name of this delicious, meaty mushroom. Any way you spell it, though, it tastes delightful when stuffed with feta cheese and Italian seasonings. I developed this recipe to feed two people (along with side dishes, of course!), but you can obviously adapt it to feed as many people as you'd like.





FETA STUFFED PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS FOR TWO

Ingredients:

1 small eggplant
2 portabella mushrooms
1/2 of a roma tomato
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 clove garlic, diced
1/8 - 1/4 c. feta cheese
Olive oil for brushing
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 450.

2.  Peel eggplant and cut into 1/4 inch thick squares.  Lay on lined baking sheet and roast  for 10-15 minutes.

3.  Remove roasted eggplant from oven and reduce heat to 375.

4.  Remove stems from mushrooms and use a spoon to scoop out gills.  Brush mushrooms with olive oil, inside and out.

5.  Dice half of a roma tomato.  Mix in basil, oregano, garlic.  Add salt and pepper, to taste.

6.  Layer eggplant, roma mixture, and cheese in mushroom caps.  Bake for 10 min at 375.

7.  Enjoy!

Peel eggplant...

Cut into 1/4 inch thick squares.  Lay on lined baking sheet and roast  for 10-15 minutes.

Roast for  10-15 minutes and remove from oven.

Cut stems off mushrooms and use a spoon to scoop out gills.

Prepared mushrooms.

Dice tomato; add spices.

Brush mushroom caps with olive oil, inside and out.

Layer eggplant, tomato mixture, and feta cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!