Food tastes better when you make it from scratch: Hummous edition

So, it's still bitterly cold and my South African tan has faded away...But, I'm ready for summer and find myself getting tired of all sorts of things as a result of my impatience for sun, skirts, and beer on porches. One of those things is my standard granola/fruit/yogurt breakfast. My favorite alternative to a bowl of sweet and crunchy goodness is a salty, heavily seeded everything bagel with hummus, avocado, sprouts, tomato and cucumber...Clearly my mom did a good job teaching me to eat my veggies! Unfortunately it is impossible to get a good tomato in this town and I'm pretty sure that you can't find decent bagels either. (I'm not quite ready to start making my own!) But, I've been soothing my frustrated inner Californian with dense seedy bread, avocado, sprout and hummus sandwiches for breakfast and eagerly anticipating tomato season.

Which brings me to making hummus. Store bought hummus is OKAY, but it frequently has weird extras in it like soy products, cream of tartar, lactic acid, etc. When I have time, I prefer to make mine from scratch because making hummus is incredibly easy provided you have a blender or blender like device and when I make it I know what is in it. And, things taste better when you make them from scratch. Recently I've been using toasted walnuts instead of sesame seeds to make an earthier, wintrier hummus. What follows is a Spain and South Africa inspired red pepper (Piquillos and Peppadews replace the standard roasted bell peppers) hummus. I'm also partial to delightfully green batches made with obscene amounts of cilantro, parsley or basil. Perhaps you'll find yourself encouraged to save a little money and make yours at home too and we can have a battle of the mashed garbanzo beans!

Ingredients
1 cup dried garbanzos
1 onion
1/2 bunch of parsley
6- 7 cups of water
salt

1 8 oz. jar of roasted piquillo peppers (ingredients should be peppers, olive oil and that's it!)
2/3 cup raw walnuts
5 pickled peppadews
3-4 cloves of garlic
1-2 lemons
olive oil
walnut oil (optional)
paprika
aleppo pepper, harissa, or red pepper flakes

Soak the beans over night. Cook them with the parsley and onions until soft and creamy in the center. Do not add salt until the beans are nearly done! Set aside and reserve the cooking water.

In a large skillet over medium heat toast the walnuts and the unpeeled garlic cloves until the nuts are fragrant. Peel the garlic and process with the walnuts and a good glug of olive oil and a hefty pinch of salt. Usually I use a little swig of walnut oil here too to add to the earthy, nutty background flavor.

Add the peppers and process until smooth.

Using a slotted spoon add the garbanzo beans to this paste and process, a little at a time, being careful not to transfer the aromatics from the cooking water into the blender. Use equal parts olive oil and cooking water to thin the mixture to your desired consistency.

Once you have combined all of the beans with the pepper and walnut mixture, add the juice of 1- 3 lemons depending on your preference and the juiciness of the lemons. A little orange zest is nice too. Season with 1 T of paprika, about 1 T of something spicy and salt. Process until incorporated.

Like most dips, hummus tastes best after sitting for a while. This recipe makes about 4- 5 cups of hummus and it will keep well in the fridge for 5 or so days.

Cider-Roasted Root Vegetables

Brian and I made these for my mom when she was in town. From my Fresh Every Day cookbook, recipes from a cafe I love in Chapel Hill, NC (I use this all the time). Perfect for cooking up mysterious or abundant root veggies. I used whatever I had on hand courtesy of my Fresh Picks box, which included scarlet turnips and rutabagas. To veganize, leave out the butter and double the EVOO. Roasted parsnips are incredible.

Serves 4-6

1/4 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. unfiltered apple juice or apple cider
2 T. olive oil
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. chopped fresh rosemary or thyme or combo or both
2 small turnips, trimmed, peeled, and quartered lengthwise
4 small potatoes, halved
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2-in. wedges
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-in. pieces
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-in. pieces
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Whisk the vinegar, apple juice, oil, butter, mustard, and rosemary/thyme together in a large bowl (I skipped this step and dumped everything into the glass baking dish I roasted everything in). Add veggies and toss/stir to coat. Season with salt & pepper and spread veggies into single layer - as best you can. Roast for 45-50 mins, stirring veggies occasionally, until they are tender and light golden brown around the edges (note: I ended up roasting almost an extra hour, as I like my veggies so roasted they start to caramelize). Toss with parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Baja's Best Pinto Beans

It's no secret I love dried beans. Really good tasting, good quality beans. What could be healthier or more satisfying? So here's a staple pinto recipe that's refreshingly meat-free. 100% vegan these are. These have a mildly smoky, sweet flavor that's not quite bbq and so they go with everything. I particularly love them for breakfast con huevos y tortillas.

You will need to make these in the biggest pot you have b/c of all the water, and they'll need a few hours on the stove. They freeze well too. Enjoy!

Adapted from Bon Appetit, 2003
Serves 6 or more...

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large jalapeño chili with seeds, cut lengthwise in half
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 9 1/2 cups water
• 1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, chili, oregano, and cumin; sauté 1 minute. Add 9 1/2 cups water and beans. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.

Discard chili. Add sugar and salt to bean mixture. Simmer uncovered over medium heat until beans are tender and almost all liquid has evaporated, about 1 hour longer (or more). Remove from heat. Season with additional salt, if desired.