Carrot Hummus
What to do when your freezer is full of carrots and your CSA brings you more.
If you know me, you know I'm not a fan of carrots nor am I a lover of hummus. Yet, a Saturday morning trip down the rabbit hole produced a batch of carrot hummus, and I actually like it!
Since my CSA sends a lot of carrots, I chopped and froze some with celery to use when stew season come. Then the next batch got shredded and frozen for when baking season gets here. And then they sent MORE. I opted to continue to expand my hummus horizons and inspired by a taco-themed party I was planning, decided to create a hummus that might be a good addition to my other taco fillings.
In addition to the obvious ingredients of chick peas and tahini (for stability of texture), I gathered a collection of ingredients that included garlic, lime juice, cumin, cilantro, sriracha, onion powder, smoked paprika, and some olive oil for good measure. I landed on roasting the carrots rather than boiling or trying to use them raw.
I lit the oven to 400 degrees and combined the cumin, onion powder, and smoked paprika with olive oil and tossed the chopped carrots and a few gloves of garlic in the mixture. Reserving the olive oil mixture, I strained the carrots and garlic cloves out and onto a pan lined with parchment and set them to roast.
While the carrots were roasting, I drained the chick peas and added tahini, sriracha, lime juice, and cilantro paste (because the was a spur of the moment idea, I didn't have fresh cilantro in the house) to the reserved olive oil mixture.
Although roasting time will depend on the size of the carrot chunks, this batch roasted for between 20 and 25 minutes, before they were cooked through and starting to caramelize. While the carrots cooled, I combined the chick peas and tahini olive oil mixture in my food processor and pulsed until completely blended and smooth before adding the carrots.
Once I added the carrots, it took a relatively long time to completely blend -- I may have mixed a batch that was a bit beyond the capacity of my processor.
All said and done, my hummus came out nice and smooth and had just the right amount of sweet and heat to add to my taco fixings when the time came. I actually did this experiment a week in advance of my party so froze the portion I planned to use for that event.
In the meantime, we taste-tested on crackers, pretzel chips, and tortilla chips and it was pretty yummy!
THE RECIPE:
1.5 lb fresh carrots cut into chunks
6 garlic cloves
2 14-OZ cans of chick peas drained
1/2 C olive oil
2T ground cumin
1T onion powder
2T smoked paprika
1/2 C tahini
1/4 C cilantro paste
1T sriracha
1/2 C lime juice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Line a baking pan with parchment
Mix the olive oil with the ground cumin, onion powder, and smoked paprika
Toss the cut carrots and garlic cloves in the seasoned olive oil
Reserving the oil mixture, strain the carrots and garlic and place in a single layer on the parchment
Roast to 20-25 minutes or until the carrots and tender and beginning to caramelize.
While the carrots are roasting:
Whisk the tahini, cilantro paste, sriracha, and half of the lime juice into the reserved seasoned oil
Put the chick peas and tahini mixture into a food processor and process until smooth
Add the carrots and garlic cloves in small batches gradually adding the remaining lime juice and process until smooth
Thought for food: This hummus would be a nice vegetarian filling for the tortilla pinwheels, and I am also pondering how I might use it as a filling for some savory baked something or other.
