Roasted Yellow Bell Pepper Hummus

I have to admit that lately I’ve gotten pretty good at making yummy hummus. I make a batch each week for my husband and the flavors vary based on what we have available in the house.

So far, I’ve shared with you my Green Chile Hummus and Mediterranean Hummus recipes. But now I’d like to tell you the basic hummus concept and how to customize it into several delicious varieties.

Basic Hummus Starter Recipe
Makes about 2 cups

1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained
Fresh lemon juice to taste
1/4 c olive oil
1-2 T tahini
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (and, if desired, your choice of flavor ideas as presented below) and process until smooth. Chill for an hour to allow flavors to combine.

To the above starter recipe, you can add the following ingredients to customize your creation:

For Roasted Onion Hummus, add one medium-sized roasted onion and one large roasted shallot.

For Roasted Yellow Bell Pepper Hummus, add one roasted yellow bell pepper.

For Black and Green Olive Hummus, add 4 large green olives (stuffed with pimentos and/or jalapenos) and 2 ounces of black olives, as well as 1 T of dried rosemary leaves.

For Roasted Garlic Hummus, add 6 cloves of roasted garlic.

I’ll add more flavors as I create and perfect them. It feels so good to have hummus on hand at any given moment, and to no longer be a slave to the couple flavors offered at Trader Joe’s!

For a simple, tidy way to roast vegetables, just preheat the oven to 400 degrees, wrap the veggies in a little tin foil packet, and roast them for 35 minutes then let them cool for 10 minutes afterwards.