recipe

Hummus, The Return

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Haven’t made hummus in awhile, so I returned to my generic hummus recipe, and thought I’d share.  I love hummus because it’s a great dip, yet is basically beans, so is quite nutritious.  I’ve served it with pita, tortillas (really), and baked slices of potato.

  • 2 cups beans (garbanzo)
  • 1/3 cup water (or broth)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Toss everything in the blender and puree until smooth.  Chill and serve.

This is really a basic hummus recipe, so it’s nothing earth-shattering, but is a good basis to work from.  I’m still working to improve it, and am slightly limited as I have a mild allergy to sesame seeds (but not oil).  Thinking more garlic, olive oil, or cumin may be needed.

Suggestions welcome!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

Recipe: Quick Pasta Caprese

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This is a fast recipe that lets you make a classy, tasty dish quickly – and you can do it with ingredients many of us keep around anyway.  This is for a single serving, so scale accordingly.  It also makes a decent meal without a side dish.

For the pasta:

2-3 oz dried pasta.

Sauce:

  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp dried basil (or about 1/2 of shredded basil)
  • 1/8 tbsp pepper
  • a few dashes salt (3-4)
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 slice mozzarella cheese (optional for vegans, but it’s not true caprese without cheese – that being said I don’t use the cheese much myself)

(note, you can leave out the tomato and have a rather tasty coating for 2 servings pasta)

  1. Mix olive oil, basil, pepper, salt, garlic, and cheese.
  2. Add tomato to mix, coat thoroughly.  Let sit at least 15 minutes in the fridge to allow flavors to blend)
  3. Cook pasta and drain thoroughly.
  4. Mix pasta with tomato mix, serve.

Recipe: Curried Split Pea Soup

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This is a recipe I’m extremely proud of because I always wanted to make good vegetarian split pea soup.  Done right, it’s high in protein, nutritious, low in fat, and filling.  This is the 5th version of the recipe, and I’m quite happy with it – took nearly a year to perfect.

I think you’ll agree it’s worth it!

INGREDIENTS (Broken up in stages)

  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 6 cups water
  • 2 cups dried split green peas (picked over and rinsed) – This will be about a pound, but measurements are a pain.
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Soy sauce (was 1/2 tsp salt)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground thyme.
  • 1 tsp smoked  paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice.

 

  1. Saute onion in 1 tbsp olive oil until it softens and browns.
  2. Add garlic, curry.  Stir in oil until fragrant (really 20-30 seconds)
  3. Add water,peas, soy sauce, pepper, oregano, thyme.
  4. Bring to boil covered, then reduce heat as low as possible  simmer until peas are cooked (should be al dente) – maybe 20-30 minutes.  Careful, near the end they swell up FAST.
  5. Puree soup in blender or in immersion blender.
  6. Return soup to pot (if you used a blender).  Add lemon juice, Paprika, rest of olive oil.
  7. Reheat the pureed mixture.
  8. Serve.

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