Mediterranean Hummus Pizza

A few years back,  I managed to convince my Pampered Chef consultant and friend to do an all-vegan Pampered Chef party at our home. Very few of the Pampered Chef recipes are actually vegan in their original state, BUT we managed to fine some contenders. And, with only a few simple tweaks or omissions, we pulled off cruelty-free vegan goodness, and quite well, too.

Still to this day, one of my favorite recipes was the Mediterranean Hummus Pizza, which, as you can see, is a virtual rainbow of vegan fun! It’s fresh and delicious, especially if you are in the mood for pizza, but don’t want something really heavy.

The basic recipe that I follow is below, but there is room for great improvisation here, which makes it all the more fun:

Crust
1   half recipe of whole wheat pizza dough (Julie Hasson's from Vegan Pizza)
1   tablespoon olive oil, for brushing
1   garlic clove, pressed
oregano, salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
15  grape tomatoes, halved
1/4   medium red onion, finely chopped
2 baby cucumbers, halved and chopped
1/2   cup pitted kalamata olives
1   container (7 ounces) plain hummus spread (roasted red pepper is great, too)
1/2 cup each diced bell pepper (I had yellow and green this time)
OR
2   jars (6-7.5 ounces each) quartered marinated artichoke hearts, drained

*some swaps that work well too:  roasted red peppers, tofu feta cheese, scallions, vegan tzatsiki, fresh basil for garnish

First we are going to bake the crust. Preheat a pizza stone in your oven at 425 for 30 minutes. I actually cook this crust at a little lower heat than my usual pizza with toppings.

Roll out you dough on some parchment paper into a 12" circle. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle on the garlic or powder, then some oregano, salt and pepper. Sometimes I will add some crushed red pepper too!

Slide dough onto your stone and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven off the pizza stone and onto a cutting board. Spread the container of hummus evenly onto the crust. Then arrange the chopped vegetables on top. Cut into squares, (I like the square shape rather than wedges for this) and enjoy!

My Basic Hummus Recipe

I was recently given a food processor! Nothing fancy, but it does the job. ^_^

I have now unleashed a monster, and I can't stop making HUMMUS.

  
Please believe me when I tell you how AMAZING home made hummus tastes compared to store bought brands!  Here's the recipe I use:

Basic Hummus Recipe
1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1/4 - 1/3 cup tahini
1/2 lemon, juiced.
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chickpea liquid
1/2 tsp salt, corriander and cumin, or to taste

So, why so heavy on the tahini?  My (ONLY) favorite store bought brand of hummus is SABRA.  In an attempt to recreate this silky creamy goodness, I searched the web for a copycat recipe. I did not actually find one, but I read somewhere that the Sabra brand uses more tahini than most other brands, and that could possibly be the reason why I love it so!

So... add the above list of ingredients to your food processor and blend, blend, BLEND... scraping the sides down as you go. If the tahini-ness scares you, feel free to start off with maybe 2 TBSP- 1/4 cup of tahini, and taste as you go. 

Once you get the basic hummus recipe down, you can experiment with all sorts of flavors:

Add one roasted red pepper:  

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (bad pic)!

OR... add a handful of chopped scallion and cilantro:

   

Scallion & Cilantro Hummus

Or if you like it SPICY, add a little less tahini, one roasted red pepper and 1/2 jalapeno WITH seeds!
  

SPICY - Red Pepper and Jalapeno!

What is your favorite hummus recipe?

Build Your Own Falafel!

Most Friday nights, my friend and I get together to COOK, and although she is a member of the International Chili Society and a die-hard carnivore, she glady comes to my kitchen and we cook VEGAN food!  Each Friday, we usually pick a cuisine such as Mexican, Indian, Italian, BUT our all time, common ground is: THE HUMBLE FALAFEL

If you've never had the honnor of eating one of these delicious Middle Eastern treats, falafels are fried balls or patties of spiced chickpeas, wrapped in a pita pocket or flat bread, and served with a variety of condiments or dipping sauces.  When I make falafel from scratch, I use THIS traditional recipe from Tyler Florence. Unfortunately, you DO need to plan ahead with this one, because it involves soaking dried chickpeas overnight. This week, we decided way too late for that recipe, so I had to resort to the box:

For a box, this stuff is NOT BAD...  I do add a little fresh garlic, chopped scallion and fresh cilantro to spruce it up a bit, but overall, (in a pinch), I like it!

Now for the toppings!  We set ours up like a "make your own" falafel bar:  Romaine lettuce, sliced tomato, thinly sliced red onion, roasted red pepper strips.  Two kinds of homemade hummus:  Garlic and scallion, and then a spicy red pepper and jalapeno (recipes tomorrow)!  For an added cool touch, I mixed some chopped cilantro and scallion into my basic tofu sour cream recipe.  And for the wraps, we had whole wheat pitas and lavash flat bread!