Hummus...Yum-mus

I have been on a hummus kick lately. I bought some red pepper (or roasted pepper?) hummus from HEB last weekend (the HEB down south on Escarpment is more like a Central Market; impressive). They were out of regular hummus so I chose the red/roasted pepper one thinking I would be sadly disappointed...and it was AMAZING. I ate it with Wheat Thins and I could not stop. Hummus is a mixture of mashed up chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), tahini (sesame seed paste), and some mixture of seasonings. Since its just mashed up beans I feel like its pretty healthy (getting my proteins). It is usually eaten with pita bread and I think its origins are Greek. I have not tried to make hummus myself yet but it's on my list of foods to conquer.

This affinity for hummus is just one of the many foods using chickpeas that I have recently discovered. I tried a falafel recipe from Cooking Light magazine that came out pretty good and I have made it multiple times (I will add it to this blog as soon as I can find the magazine clipping!). Falafels are mashed up chickpea patties.

Okay I'm getting hungry...

Here chick chick chick pea!

Mashed Cauliflower - Potatoes Be Afraid!

I am a huge..HUGE potato fan but my fiance and I started a new diet where we eat no white potatoes (okay maybe the occasional Wendy's french fries..I am weak!). Tonight I tried making mashed cauliflower as a substitute for mashed potatoes. I had heard about people making this and it turning out great but I had my doubts. I took a bag of frozen cauliflower and added it to boiling water with some salt. I drained the cauliflower and put it in my blender with some butter, half and half, salt, and pepper. It blended well but I noticed the consistency was a little bit too watery (it was like cream of wheat) so I added some bread crumbs to soak up the excess moisture. It worked like a charm. I served the mashed cauliflower with some left over chicken gravy I had from last night's dinner and it was AWESOME. I asked my fiance and his brother how they liked the cauliflower and they didn't know what I was talking about. If I hadn't mentioned it they probably would have gone on thinking they were eating potatoes. Cauliflower..mission accomplished.