Roasted Carrot Hummus

Hummus is one of my Sunday Night staples. I make it with canned chickpeas, or start with dried garbanzos...I make it plain, or, more often than not, add my own roasted red peppers along with some of the oil and garlic from their roasting. But I must admit, this roasted carrot hummus takes things to a whole new level. I found the recipe on The Kitchn and had it pinned for a while, intending to try it out. It was the first thing I made in the food processor I bought to tide me over during my stay in NJ, and even with the liberties I took with the original recipe....IT IS DELICIOUS!

To make this wonder you can follow the original recipe at the Kitchn, or wing it like I did with those ingredients you have on hand. My version used:

• 3/4 lb baby carrots
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 1 can organic garbanzos
• olive oil. 
• 1/4 c tahini
• 2 Tbs lime juice
• 1/4 c water, plus more to thin
• seasonings: cumin, ginger, salt, cinnamon, paprika, allspice (you can play with this combination)
• fresh cilantro to serve

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat carrots and unpeeled garlic cloves in olive oil and roast in a single layer in a pyrex mold. Check after 20 minutes, stir and leave until garlic is soft and carrots slightly browned. Take out of oven and allow to cool.

Drain the garbanzos. Place in food processor with the roasted carrots and squeeze in the pulp of the roasted garlic (discard the skin). Add the tahini, lime juice, water and seasonings. The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp cumin, ginger and salt; 1/4 tsp of the others. I just sprinkled, probably using a bit more of the first three and pretty close to the stipulated amount of the others. Pulse until smooth, adding a trickle of olive oil as you go (about 2-3 Tbs.). Continue to pulse, adding water to achieve desired consistency.

Before serving, top with chopped cilantro, a bit of sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. It's perfect on pita bread, but any plain bread or cracker will do...nothing that will compete with the taste of this sweet/spicy spread.

If you looked at the original recipe, you will see that it also used coriander (didn't have any), cayenne (didn't have it, substituted paprika), cloves (nope, didn't have them either) and black pepper (?? I forgot to put it in).  I also added an additional garlic clove...but then I do like roasted garlic.  Try it with all the original ingredients if you like, or not.  Try your own version after you try mine...my version is heavenly, but you just might be able to improve on it. There is not one recipe for hummus. It is delightfully customizable and forgiving...my kind of food.