healthy start

New year, new resolutions. Who doesn’t have lightening up on their docket? The trick to making it stick is to load up on flavor and texture. Santa brought my girls a slow extraction juicer. We’ve been whirling and pulverizing spinach, kale, turnips, carrots and the like. It certainly tastes healthy- I’ll give you that. But I decided to use my own Christmas gadget to whip together a snack that’s a bit more satisfying without tipping the scale.

Hummus is a classic Middle Eastern dip made with mashed chickpeas and blended with tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Time to concoct this in another classic- the Cuisinart Pro Custom 11 food processor. Sometimes the first is the best and when it came time to restock the kitchen appliances in our desert home I had to agree that nothing beats this original food processor.

For the hummus finely chop the garlic.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Stir the tahini (sesame seed paste) well.

In a food processor combine together garlic, chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, oil, water and cumin.

Blend, scraping down the side, until smooth.

Add parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and pulse until just combined.

Serve with carrots or live large and add some baked pita chips. Dip into your iron, vitamin C, B6, folic and amino acids.