Juicing and Smoothie Creations

I will be adding to this one regularly.


Juice:

1. Spinach, grapes, apple, cucumber, Italian Parsley, celery, lime = amazingly good

Smoothie:

1. Apple, carrot, lime, celery, ice

Smooth Simple Hummus - Sooooo delicious

Best hummus I've ever had.  I take no credit for creating this recipe, just for finding it.  Go to http://www.inspiredtaste.net/15938/easy-and-smooth-hummus-recipe/ to see original site from Joanne. I did add to the recipe chopped sun dried tomatoes on top.   I use this blog as a recipe book for myself, so wanted to post this.

In the past, if we were in the grocery store you could almost bet that one of us would throw a tub of smooth hummus into our cart. That was until we figured out this simple hummus recipe that we honestly believe is better than anything we could have found at the store.

Hummus Recipe – Better Than Store-Bought

First, let us mention that this simple hummus recipe uses tahini. In the hummus-loving world, there are two camps. Some love the zest and deep flavor of tahini added, others could really go without it. We like it both ways, but for smooth hummus rivaling our favorite brands in the store, we use this recipe.

So, what’s the secret?

It’s simple really. It’s the order in which you add ingredients to your food processor. Seriously, it’s that easy. Tahini and lemon juice go in first. Then, before you add anything else, turn on the food processor and let it run for a minutes or so.

See the photos below? In the first one, we’re pouring tahihi into a clean food processor. After a minute of being whirled, whipped and creamed in the food processor it turns into the paste you see on the right. It’s lighter in color and much thicker.

From here, you can add ingredients as you will, but make sure you stand back and let that food processor run — we’re talking a minute of running after adding each ingredient. That’s how you make a hummus recipe that’s better that store-bought.

To Skin or Not to Skin The Chickpeas?

Another trick for extra smooth hummus is to remove the skins of each chickpea. We’ve done it. For one can of chickpeas, you’re looking at about ten minutes. We really didn’t want to add that to our hummus recipe, but just to make sure, we tried it both ways — skinless chickpeas and chickpeas right out of the can.

In the photo below, the spoon of hummus on the left used skinless chickpeas. The right came from chickpeas straight out the can. You can see, even from this photo that the skinless chickpeas made for a slightly smoother hummus, but in our opinion it really wasn’t enough of a difference to warrant ten minutes of skinning chickpeas.

That’s a closeup of our hummus recipe that calls for chickpeas straight from the can (not skinned). It’s smooth, creamy and luscious. We love it!

Did you enjoy our simple hummus recipe? Might we suggest you take a look at more of our easy appetizer recipes. Or, take a peek at some of our favorite and easy snack recipes:

• These Spicy Maple Bacon Wrapped Shrimp are divine — so easy to make and they fly off the plate!(from Inspired Taste)
• This Hummus Recipe with Slow Roasted Tomatoes from Kayln’s Kitchen is full of flavor and is easy to make.
• Lightly Roasted Tomatoes with Ricotta and Mint is perfect to serve a crowd. All you need is a big plate of bread so everyone can dig in. (from Inspired Taste)
• Simple Hummus Recipe from Ina Garten
• We love this Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Recipe from Clean and Delicious – it’s so simple.
• Try our Hummus Recipe with Spiced Beef, too. (from Inspired Taste)
• If you’re serving many, these adorable Chili Lime Shrimp Cups use wonton wrappers to make the cups. They are always a hit! (from Inspired Taste)

4.8 from 18 reviews

Smooth Simple Hummus Recipe

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Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Why we love this recipe. When we first figured out how to make our own hummus, we were shocked at how easy (and fast) it is. With a just a few simple tricks, you really can make creamy smooth hummus at home and yes, we really do think it’s better than store-bought.

What you need to know. Two things here. First, we use canned chickpeas, which is much, much quicker than using dried. Some swear by soaking and cooking their own dried chickpeas, but we’re just not that organized and love that canned chickpeas means we can enjoy our hummus in 10 minutes. Second, our recipe calls for tahini, a creamy paste made from sesame seeds. You can usually find tahini in larger grocery stores or specialty markets.

Equipment you’ll need. A mesh strainer or colander, food processor, silicone spatula, measuring cups and spoons.

Created By: Joanne and Adam Gallagher

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• One 15-ounce can (425 grams) chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) tahini (we used Krinos)
• Half of a large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt, depending on taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water
• Dash of ground paprika for serving

Method

Preparing the Hummus

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine tahini and lemon juice. Process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl then turn on and process for 30 seconds. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making smooth and creamy hummus possible.
2. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin and the salt to whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape sides and bottom of bowl then process another 30 seconds.

Adding the Chickpeas

1. Open can of chickpeas, drain liquid then rinse well with water. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor then process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, add remaining chickpeas and process for 1 to 2 minutes or until thick and quite smooth.

Creating the Perfect Consistency

1. Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until the consistency is perfect.

To Serve

1. Scrape the hummus into a bowl then drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with paprika.

To Store

1. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.

Read more: http://www.inspiredtaste.net/15938/easy-and-smooth-hummus-recipe/#ixzz2NkXRMqul

Spicy Kale & Feta

I took my Balsamic Raspberry Kale recipe, tweaked a bit, and found another winner. (Sorry, no pic this time - I ate it all!)

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Garlic
Onion
Cajun Spice Mix (use your own spicy mixture)

Kale
Parsley (used Italian from Whole Foods - I eat raw, sooo good)
Leek
Lime
Low Sodium Spicy V8

Sea Salt
Pepper
Feta Cheese


Put oil in skillet at medium high.  Add chopped garlic and onion and heat through. Add Cajun mix and stir.  Cook til onions cooked.   Add chopped kale, parsley and sliced leek (white and 2-3" of green) and stir.  Cook til reduced about 1/3.  Add V8, 1/4 of lime squeezed, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Place on plate and top with feta . Stir and serve.  Mmmmmmmmm

Balsamic Raspberry Kale

I'm blogging this because I can never remember how I made things, and this one was sooooooo good. As usual, my amounts are all 'as desired'.

Ingredients:
Fiesta Raspberry Jalepeno Sauce
Sea Salt
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Feta Cheese
Kale
Garlic
Onion
Leek
Pecans (forgot in picture)

Put oil in skillet at medium high.  Add chopped garlic and onion and heat through.  Add chopped kale and sliced leek (white and 2-3" of green) and stir.  Cook til reduced about 1/3.  Add equal parts of Fiesta sauce and balsamic and salt.  Mix well.  Place on plate and top with feta and pecans. Stir and serve.  Mmmmmmmmm

Leslie's Granola Bars

As requested by many, here are my favorite granola bars. This recipe was excellent, but I never make them the same way twice as there are so many variations.  You can throw in apples, apricots, other nuts and seeds, etc.  Have fun with it.  Here we go!

Ingredients: almonds, meuslix (bulk section at Whole Foods), dates, vanilla, dried cranberries,  raisins (golden or regular), raw coconut, cinnamon, water.  Amounts of each is up to your taste.  I will provide general guidelines below, but this is not a science. That's why I like it better than baking - precision is NOT required. 

Tools: food processor, waxed paper, rolling pin, large cutting board or sheet,  large spoon, large knife, dehydrator (not pictured) or oven  that will go as low as 140 degrees

Step 1:  Add 3 cups of almonds to the food processor.  Chop until  desired texture - sometimes I mix chunkier as pictured, when I get distracted, it is much finer.

Step 2:  Add 1/2 box of raisins, 8-10 pitted dates, 1 t. vanilla, 2 t. cinnamon, and a splash of water.   Blend until it starts clumping as in this picture.  It will want to rock off of your counter - hold on tightly.  If too dry, add another splash of water.  Just enough so that it clumps.   

Step 3: This is where the road divides.  You can end with these ingredients and move to Step 4  which makes for wonderful bars, or you can add the remaining ingredients for a more robust flavor:  3-4 cups meuslix, coconut (the more the better for me!), and a small amount of cranberries (too many is overpowering) .  Blend together until clumping, again use a splash of water if too dry to form a ball.   Once texture is pack-able, place on a square of waxed paper.  Fold over the paper so you can press it together to make a roll. 

Step 4:  Place a second sheet of waxed paper on top of the mix.  Use rolling pin to roll to approx  1/4".  It will roll to a rounded flat area.  To make it a rectangle (easier for cutting uniform bars), pull the top layer back, then fold the bottom excess wax paper up and over the mix and fold it flat so the rounded edge now is a straight line.  It will be thicker, so put top paper back and roll a little to thin.  You may have to do this a couple of times, but it pays off in making a nice rectangle that you only have to cut once with no extra edges that you have to re-roll. 

Step 5: Slide it onto the cutting board.  Carefully peel off the top waxed paper. Use a large knife to score the bars the size you want.  I use a ruler to  get more uniform sizes. 

Step 6: Lay your dehydrator sheet upside down on the bars.  Flip  the whole thing over to place bars on the sheet.  Then use knife to carefully separate the bars. 

Step 7: Place in dehydrator over night.  Enjoy a wonderful, healthy bar for breakfast!