The inevitable outcome of many a meal made at home tends to
amount to a vast variety of fridge and pantry odds and ends – the pile of
leftover ingredients you are stuck with after having purchased a bunch of
recipe-specific food items. Living alone
and constantly cooking, I tend to have quite a few unfinished bottles of this,
or jars of that.
One evening this past week as dinner time was quickly
approaching, I dove in to my pantry to grab some quinoa or brown rice to use as
a base for an Asian-inspired veggie bowl I had been thinking about creating all
day. But for the first time in as long
as I can remember, I had neither item in stock.
Clearly, something had hiccupped in my by now well-honed grocery
shopping-shopping list food supply system!
Not one, but two of my pantry staples had run out? Inconceivable.
And so, I did what any kitchen creative would do, and I
compromised. I turned to the lone can of
lentils that sat on the top shelf, and quickly my meal plan morphed from the
world of miso gravy and kimchi, to a trip to the smooth and spicy landscape of curry,
curry, and more curry.
And what was I left with at the end? A half a can of soft and mushy un-used
lentils in the fridge, that I gave new life to via this humble yet delicious
take on hummus. With an extra kick of
good fat and protein thanks to the addition of hemp hearts!
Amped-Up Lentil
Hummus
·
1 C cooked lentils (freshly cooked or canned)
·
1 small clove garlic
·
7-8 fresh basil leaves
·
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
·
1 1/2 T tahini
·
1 T hemp hearts
·
1 T extra virgin olive oil
·
1/2 t cumin
·
Sea salt to taste
Add all ingredients, minus the sea salt, to a SMALL (2-4
cup) food processor. Process on low
until desired consistency is reached. I
like it a little bit chunky. Season with
salt to taste.
If you only have a
large bowl processor, feel free to double all of the ingredients. This will help bulk up the contents to allow
for easier blending.
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