The Name Sounds Silly, but the Food is Good!

Right before Christmas, I heard Nigella Lawson on NPR, talking about some of her favorite quick dishes for the holidays.  In her NPR piece, she mentioned her latest favorite, Peanut Butter Hummus--a recipe that also appears in her newest book, Nigella Kitchen.

I am not the biggest fan of tahini--the sesame paste that usually gives hummus it's flavor--so using peanut butter in place of tahini (essentially sesame butter) sounded perfect.  After hearing the interview, I pulled the recipe off the internet and whipped this up for appetizers for my Christmas dinner.

Peanut Butter Hummus was a hit!  It had a nice texture, smooth flavor, and was a snap to make.  My mom had some a few days later on a sandwich, and she said it was delicious.

The recipe, below, makes a boat-load of hummus.  If you don't want tons of the stuff, you may want to half the recipe.


PEANUT BUTTER HUMMUS
2 x 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 garlic clove, peeled
3-5 tablespoons regular olive oil
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons lemon juice, or more as needed
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoons table salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 - 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons peanuts, finely chopped, to serve (optional)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, to serve (optional)
breadsticks, mini pitas, crackers, tortilla chips, to serve (optional)

• Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Put the garlic clove, chickpeas, 3 tablespoons oil, peanut butter, lemon juice, salt, and cumin into a food processor and blitz to a knobbly puree.
• Add 1/4 cup of the Greek yogurt and process again; if the hummus is still very thick, add another 1–2 tablespoons yogurt and the same of oil. (This will often depend on the chickpeas, as different sorts make the hummus thicker or not.)
• Taste for seasoning, adding more lemon juice and salt if you feel it needs it.
• On serving, mix the chopped peanuts with the paprika and sprinkle on top if you wish, and put an array of bits and pieces to eat with or dip in, as you see fit.

Makes enough for a party of 10
Note: The hummus can be made 1–2 days ahead. Transfer to non-metallic container, cover, and refrigerate until needed. Should be consumed within 2 days of making 

Slather

Crappy iPhone Photo--please forgive me!

I had the whole family over for dinner the other night, and to start things off, I made a new recipe from an awesome casserole book I found at Half Price Books (I'll tell you about that later!). I want to go back and make some changes to this recipe, but it was pretty tasty as is. And not a completely fattening way to start the meal.

I like this recipe because it can be made ahead and then thrown into the oven when guests arrive. It's so easy, so that's also a plus!

EGGPLANT AND GARLIC SLATHER

1 large eggplant or several small Japanese eggplants, totaling about 1 1/2 pounds
Olive Oil
2 whole heads garlic
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped basil
3 Tablespoons non-fat plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
Toasted French bread slices for serving

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cut a few slits in the eggplant and rub with oil. Place in a small roasting pan/baking sheet.
• Drizzle about 1 tsp olive oil over the garlic cloves and wrap them in foil. Place the foil packet in the roasting pan with the eggplant.
• Roast for at least an hour, until the eggplant wrinkles and starts to collapse. Remove from oven and let cool for about 30 minutes (or until cool enough to work with).
• Cut eggplant in half and scrape the pulp into the bowl of a food processor. Squeeze garlic cloves from their skins into the food processor. Add vinegar, yogurt, basil, salt and pepper. Process until almost smooth.
• Spray a small, shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
• Pour half of the eggplant mixture into the baking dish. Top with half of the Parmesan cheese.
• Pour the remaining eggplant mixture over the Parmesan cheese. (Slather can be made to this point a day ahead of time. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.)
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400.
• Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top of the slather.
• Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly.
• Serve immediately with crunchy, toasted bread.

NOTES/VARIATIONS

• I used my favorite yogurt, Greek yogurt for this. It's thicker and creamier than the cheap store brand stuff.
• This is weird, but I do not like basil. I substituted with fresh parsley.
• I would love to add roasted red pepper to this.
• Perhaps instead of yogurt, you could use goat cheese, cream cheese, or creme fraiche?
• To go more Mediterranean, maybe you could try mint or oregano instead of basil and add in some feta. The possibilities are endless!