Recipe: Smoky Chipotle Hummus

Most years I don't bother with a New Year's resolution.  This year, however, I resolved to eat more fruit and veggies.  Not exactly an earth-shattering resolution, but it's one that I figured would help me and would be reasonable to stick to.

One of the easier ways to accomplish this has been to keep homemade hummus in the house for snacking.  Why homemade?  Store-bought is fine, but I have to keep garlic and onions to a minimum, so I make my own.  It's easy and surprisingly inexpensive. The addition of chipotles in adobo makes this recipe irresistible and it pairs beautifully with carrots, sliced peppers, and as a schmear on bread or toast.

This recipe is also adaptable and works well with a number of veggies that might just be taking up room in your fridge.  I've added cherry tomatoes, kale, and spinach before and they have all worked well.  Make sure to adjust salt, pepper, chipotles, and water levels to taste to accommodate the addition(s).

Smoky Chipotle Hummus

Ingredients:

2 cans         chickpeas (15.5 oz cans, may also be called garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup       peanut butter* (I use the kind you have to mix the oil with the ground nuts)
1/4 cup       lemon juice
1/4 cup       olive oil
1 teaspoon  salt
1/2 teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
2-5              chipotle peppers packed in adobo** (more or less depending on your heat tolerance***)
1/2 cup       water

Instructions:

1. Empty the chickpeas into a colander and rinse them under cold water until they no longer foam.

2. Place the chickpeas and all of the above ingredients into a food processor or blender.  Pulse to start, then blend until smooth.  If the mixture is still lumpy, add an additional few teaspoons of olive oil and a quarter cup of water and blend until smooth.

3. Decant the mixture into a sealable container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks.


Footnotes:

* Peanut butter sounds odd, I know.  Tahini is traditionally used but is difficult to find, inconsistently stocked, and quite expensive here.  Peanut butter has a similar flavor profile to tahini.  If you are allergic to peanut butter, substitute any nut butter or tahini, if it's available where you are.

** Chipotle peppers in adobo can only be found in the international section of the grocery stores here. If you are not using the entire can (this recipe would be firey hot if you did), reseal the can with aluminum foil and store it in your refrigerator.  The peppers will keep for a few months.  I typically make 3 separate batches with one small (7 oz) can of the peppers.

*** If you over-do it with the heat, you can "rescue" yourself by drinking full-fat milk, half and half, or cream.