Monday, July 14, 2008

Cilantro Zucchini Hummus

I love to talk food. I will talk about it anytime with anyone. And it's usually a great inspiration for recipe creation. This recipe came from a conversation I had with Theresa, an old friend of mine yesterday afternoon. We were discussing the vegetarian, vegan, and raw diets. Both of us have a desire to try a raw diet so we were talking about ways to incorporate more raw food into our daily diets. We then started taking about some healthy treats to make and of course the conversation turned to hummus.

It was only natural that my mind immediately went to trying to make a raw hummus. I was on my way to the grocery store, mentally kicking around a few ideas. It wasn't until I passed a table on someone's driveway with a huge table of zucchini that said "Free - Please take it all!" that made me think of using this often over-abundant vegetable.

This recipe is fantastic. I absolutely love it. It's fresh-tasting and is simply fantastic. Serve with fresh vegetables or pita chips. You could also use it as a sauce or a dressing by decreasing the amount of zucchini to 4 cups, as shown here. Or add some fresh jalapeno for a nice little kick! And the best part is that it only takes a few moments to chop everything up and throw it in the blender or food processor. So go ahead - give it a try.

Cilantro Zucchini Hummus

Cilantro Zucchini Hummus

6 cups zucchini, peeled and chopped
1/4 c tahini
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

Add all ingredients, except cilantro, into a blender or food processor. Process until creamy and smooth. Stir in cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

22 comments:

Dori said...

That does sound really awesome! It's another hummus recipe I have to try!

Kristen's Raw said...

That's fantastic that you want to incorporate more raw vegan foods into your diet. YAY!

Your hummus sounds WONDERFUL!!!!!!!

Cheers,
Kristen

Anonymous said...

Hi there, Without the risk of sounding too obnoxious or rude, I was just wondering...isn't hummus supposed to have chick peas in it? I think the term "hummus" is a bit misleading here. Wouldn't "Cilantro Zucchini Dip" be more apropo?

Nitpicky Food Addict :)

grace said...

i don't care what you call it--i can see myself sitting down with a bowl full of this and eating every bit. delightful!

Anonymous said...

Sounds fabulous! I love cilantro, I'll be giving this one a try!

Fiber said...

Meeso - hope you enjoy it!

Kristen - I've dabbled with the idea for a long time. I just need to go ahead and try it.

Anon - you are absolutely correct. But I'm pretty liberal with the usage of the word hummus. It's must more fun to say than dip! =)

Grace - it is very very tasty. Enjoy!

C - I'm with you. Cilantro makes me happy! =)

Anonymous said...

What a fresh take on hummus (I don't mind the use of the name here) and a great way to use up all that squash!

Carla said...

I wish someone in my neighborhood had a table with free zucchini on it haha When my zucchini grows in my mini garden, I'll have to try this hummus :)

jessy said...

wow! this looks fantastic! you better believe i'm making this! thanks for the rock'n raw recipe!!

Anonymous said...

I have 5 zuccini plants in my yard and I've been collecting recipes for when they all start growing. Thanks! This sounds great, though I fear I will also turn into the "crazy lady trying to give zuccini away" haha.

Kara said...

I'm glad the whole hummus thing was addressed, I thought it meant chick peas as well and was about to hop on the Google!

Regardless of what you call it, this looks yummy and I'll have to give it a try, I'm having a love affair with cilantro these days, and zucchini has always been a fave!

Anonymous said...

It does indeed look delicious. I had a similar conversation and came up with Black-Bean, Artichoke Hummus. While it may not be on your raw diet, still delicious. I will be trying your recipe.
http://thefoodmonsterblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/black-bean-artichoke-hummus_04.html

Fiber said...

Susan - I know. There's always someone at work trying to get rid of all of their extra squash during the summer!!

Carla - I didn't stop to get it and I was kicking myself later for not taking advantage of all that free goodness.

Jessy - let me know how you enjoy it!

Jamie - good luck with your plants!!

Kara - me too. Cilantro definitely does it for me.

Food Monster - that looks amazing! I will definitely have to give that a try!!!

Anonymous said...

No worries about what you choose to call it, it's your blog after all! I'm from the middle east and I'm used to seeing hummus with chick peas. I guess I'm a creature of habit :)

Nitpicky Food Addict

MichaelWendell said...

i just made this with a few fresh zucchinis out of the garden (we're overrun with zucchini!). it turned out wonderfully, thanks! my wife loved it too, and she's not that big a fan of hummus. i didn't have any fresh cilantro so i used dried, and i added a single, small jalapeno, also from the garden (although i couldn't taste it). the only other change was that i had to half the recipe because my food processor is small. still worked great though. thanks again.

Katie said...

That looks wonderful! Great photo. You have an awesome blog :)

Yasmeen said...

Hummus is my one of favorite health food. Adding zucchini makes it more healthier. Thanks for posting the recipes

Yasmeen
Do check out my Blog
HealthNut

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

What an interesting use of zucchini. I've always wondered what I'm going to do with zucchini, aside from zucchini bread and a simple saute. I have to try this.

test it comm said...

I like the sound of this hummus!

monkeyplusplus said...

...So many great recipes for hummus on this site that my girlfriend and I decided to make a bracket and hold our own...

Hummus Recipe Throwdown '09!

This recipe is the winner of Round Two. : http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=325510&tclass=Recipe%20Bracket

Adel said...

I'll have to make this recipe x3 to use up all my zucchini.... then I can sneak zucchini hummus into people's cars and the won't even know it's zucchini!

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