Charred Pepper Hummus

Hummus is quick and easy to make, and switching up just a few ingredients can give you some tasty variations. Our favourite is charred pepper, with lots of garlic and lemon juice.  Serve with fresh pita bread or veggies for dipping. I also added a dash of local Heartbeat Hot Sauce to this batch for a bit of zing. 

 It's easy to char peppers by using a gas stovetop or BBQ.  You can char the peppers whole or chopped (as I've done here). Wash peppers and trim the stem (if charring whole). Place on a rack over open flame set at medium and char until the skin is blackened and starting to peel. Pop the hot peppers into a paper bag or plastic container with a lid, seal and let cool for a few minutes. Remove from the bag and peel off the skin. Use as directed in recipe. (P.S. roasted peppers are also amazing on chicken chipotle unwraps...) If you don't have access to a gas stovetop or BBQ, you can roast peppers under the broiler, but you might want to get Google to help you with some advice on that - I've never done it.

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 250 g canned chick peas *
• 1/4 cup tahini**
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic (or to taste), minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• ​chopped fresh parsley (or use dried) to taste
• 1- 1 1/2 red peppers, charred and peeled
• dash or two of Heartbeat hot sauce
• ​salt (to taste)

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Add tahini and lemon juice to food processor and process for a few minutes until creamy. Drain chick peas, reserving liquid, and add to tahini mixture with remaining ingredients. Process to desired consistency, adding some of the reserved chick pea liquid as needed. Taste and season. Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil. If making without peppers, sprinkle the top with ground sumac or paprika when serving.

* If using dried chick peas, measure 1 1/2 cups of cooked (starting with about 3/4 to 1 cup dry.)
** Tahini is sesame paste and is widely available but if you don't have any, I've used peanut butter as a substitute in a pinch.