Carrot Hummus

Every year, Mom and I go to St. Louis for opera weekend. The picture here is in front of the set of Madame Butterfly this year. While there, we see four operas in three days and eat lots of good food. One place that we always visit is Big Sky in Webster Groves because it has amazing food and is just down the street from the opera. Big Sky features creative and delicious food. Instead of bread and butter, Big Sky serves up carrot hummus and crackers. I have not made hummus before, but I figured I should give this a try. The recipe made a lot, and I thought I would be eating it for a week. But, it was gone within a day.

The nice thing about hummus is that you could easily change it up to suit your tastes. But try this version. The use of carrots gives this hummus just a slightly sweet taste. Otherwise, the recipe is relatively standard. When I made this, I used three cloves of garlic, but I will use a bit more next time. If the chick peas are dry, you may need to use a bit of water. I ended up having to prepare the hummus in batches using my Magic Bullet blender.

Carrot Hummus 

• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 15 ounce can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. tahini
• 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Place a tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the carrots and garlic until tender, about fifteen minutes. Allow the carrots to cool. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and puree until smooth. Use more or less liquid (lemon juice or olive oil), if needed. Serve with veggies or crackers. Enjoy!