Yummus Hummus

Tonight was a vegetarian dinner - Mediterranean-style hummus... or as my husband calls it, "Yummus".

Yes, those are cucumber strips instead of circles. Easier to dip into the hummus, or jam into a pita bread. Unless your toddler only will eat cucumber slices, of course. The total time to make this meal is about 25 minutes (if the carrots are already prepped- peeled and chopped and stored in a container in the fridge, soaking in cold water. Great tip from my Mother-in-law: they stay fresh, crunchy, and you can prep them ahead of time for snacking.)

I would love to say I made the Falafel myself, but I took a short-cut and had my buddy, Albert Heijn make it. Just pop these beauties into a pan with a bit of oil, and fry them up for a nice, crunchy exterior.

Inform your two-year-old that these are meatballs and risk wasting one (unless you don't mind it ABC- already been chewed).

The key to this fabulous meal is of course, the Hummus. A recipe I found online long ago here: (and modified slightly)
Yummus Hummus
1 jar of chickpeas (trying to cut down on canned foods because of the BPA), drained but reserve the liquid (360 grams or 16 oz)
1/4 cup (60ml) of reserved chickpea liquid
juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup or 60ml)
2 Tablespoons Tahini paste* (about 30ml)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine (or if you don't like raw garlic, roast it first)
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus more for garnish)

Blend everything in a food processor for 3 to 5 minutes, or until creamy. Add more reserved chick-pea liquid if desired, but don't add too much or you'll end up with soup.
To serve, place in a bowl and add a Tablespoon or so of olive oil as a garnish on the top.  Make it look pretty with a carved carrot flower or creatively placed tomatoes. Use cut veggies to dip, or stuff a pita-pocket (also AH supplied! and the par-baked pita pockets bake up nice in only 5 minutes!) with the hummus, falafel, veggies and a drizzle of oil if you like.
* = Tahini is sesame paste. If you don't have it and can't get it, you can use a mortar and pestle to grind up sesame seeds until they are a paste and use that instead. I've done it this way when I was out of tahini and craving hummus. It works okay, but you really have to work to grind up those seeds and it takes a long time.

Yummus!

One of my favorite parsnip recipes is Alton Brown's parsnip muffins. However, I found the toasting of the almonds to be a bit excessive (mine burnt to a crisp) and also found that just greasing the nonstick pan was not enough to enable smooth removal of the muffins. Cupcake liners, people! That's what you need. Additionally, the timing is a bit off on the baking instructions- it always takes my muffins at least 30 minutes to reach that internal temperature of 210 degrees F. (I love how Alton does things like check a muffin's temperature!)

Another recipe I like for parsnips is a parsnip and carrot side dish. I slice parsnips and carrots into match-stick shapes and then saute in a high-heat oil like canola or sunflower oil. Add some sliced garlic and cook until the carrots and parsnips are al-dente. Toss with diced rosemary leaves and serve with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Yum!