It’s Monday…again. I could have used another hour (or three) of sleep this morning, but Honey has this new habit of waking me up around 5am so I’ll feed her. It’s lovely, especially on the weekends.
I’ve tried ignoring her, but Honey’s persistent. And cute, even at 5 am. If she sees me even start to open my eyes, she goes nuts, hopping around my head as if we haven’t seen each other in days (she sleeps next to me). This reaction is not unlike when I go down to the basement to do laundry, or take a shower and close the bathroom door. I used to leave it open to further fuel our codependency, but Honey actually loves to take a bath and will hop in if she gets the chance. Either that, or she’ll run off with my towel. And neither of those options are particularly fun for anyone except her.
So what does this have to do with hummus? I have no idea. I’ve been losing an hour+ of sleep every day for the last two weeks.
Throwing a red pepper into my weekly batch of hummus was sort of a random decision, but I’ve since made this hummus three or four times and it’s become one of my favorite flavors. The red pepper is slightly sweet and creates a pretty pink color, and the simple ingredient list lets the flavor really shine through.
Instead of serving it with my usual baked brown rice tortilla chips and raw veggies, I’ve been using it as the base for collard green wraps, along with some thinly sliced carrots, avocado, and grape tomatoes. Gena over at Choosing Raw has a great tutorial if you’ve never tried collard wraps.
It’s light and refreshing, but also has a decent amount of staying power, especially when you also treat the hummus as it’s own side dish. You know how some* people eat nut butter by the spoonful? Hummus is my nut butter.
*I also eat nut butter by the spoonful. Obviously.
- 3 C. Cooked Chickpeas
- ¼ C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ C. +2 Tbs. Water*
- 1 Heaping C. Chopped Organic Red Pepper
- 2 Tbs. Tahini
- Juice of 2 Lemons
- Salt to Taste
- In your food processor, add the chickpeas, olive oil, water*, red pepper, tahini, and lemon juice.
- Process for 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides, until the hummus reaches your desired consistency.
- Add salt to taste.
- Serve with baked tortilla chips, as a dip for veggie sticks, or as a spread on a wrap.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I feel for you on getting woken up early by affectionate companion animals! Our cats enjoy meowing at us in the wee hours of morning, because they need to cuddle ASAP. It’s cute, of course, but I would enjoy it more at 8 am instead of 5 am. I loved this line: “If she sees me even start to open my eyes, she goes nuts, hopping around my head as if we haven’t seen each other in days (she sleeps next to me).” Adorable.
That looks like an incredibly healthy and delicious lunch. Surely that will give you some energy until your next early morning!
I used to have a cat (who now lives with my parents) and she would do this weird meowing thing in the middle of the night. I’d wake up to see what all the fuss was about and she’d be intently staring at something that apparently only she could see. Creepy!
What a way to wake up! That is creepy! My cats weird me out like that too sometimes, and it’s especially unsettling if I’m home alone. Maybe I should stop watching Celebrity Ghost Stories with them before bed.
Awww- I identify with you too well. My guys used to wake us up at 5 am without FAIL. But luckily they’ve gotten lazy and can sleep in pretty much until we are ready to get up (we never get up later than 730 on weekends anyway).
I make hummus every Sunday for the week too.
Oddly enough, I’ve never made red pepper – you’d think that would be pretty obvious right? I made an AWESOME white bean/rosemary hummus yesterday. I tried to replicate one that I had at a restaurant in Boulder- and it’s pretty close!
Honey used to sleep in before we got Olive, but now I wonder if she’s a little competitive to be the first one up in the morning. I’m going to start feeding her a little snack before bed to see if that helps her sleep later…I would very much like to sleep until my alarm goes off.
White bean and rosemary sounds awesome! I love that flavor combination.
I kid you not, I have this EXACT same recipe/post in my queue. Literally, collard wraps with hummus + peppers and even the tomatoes on the side in the picture! It’s almost freaky. I was actually going to use it while I was in Napa but it didn’t happen and probably won’t now that I’m back but that’s just too funny.
So obviously, I think it’s a great combo too
haha That is freaky! There have been several times where I’ve posted a recipe that’s been eerily similar to another blogger on the same exact day. I have no idea how that happens.
A real terrific combo! I’d love to try this sometime…How sweet Honey is. Not a cat lover exactly but as a pet owner of 3 gigantic dogs, I am sure i feel for you when you give in to the sweetness. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I love hummus and make it all the time but have yet to add red pepper to it. I made collard wraps for the first time recently and absolutely loved them – who knew raw food could be so delicious!?
You must try adding red pepper to your hummus – so good!
I have this combo all the time — so good and convenient!
So purty!