Coconut Curry Hummus

I bring hummus to everything.  Dinner at a friends house, hummus.  BBQ or picnic, hummus.  Pot-luck at work, hummus.  I have my usual hummus that a bring, which is a traditional hummus topped with spices and pine nuts (find it here).  And I also have a few other hummuses (hummi?) in my arsenal:

Spicy Buffalo Wing Hummus
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Lentil and Cashew Hummus
Green Split Pea Hummus
Chive Hummus

A friend of mine, who happens to work at Total Wine (essentially Costco for beer, wine, and liqour) invited me over for apps and beer tomorrow evening.  So what am I bringing?  Hummus of course!  For this hummus, I didnt want to take the time to soak and cook chickpeas, so I chose to use yellow split peas, which cook up in under an hour.  I was also out of tahini, so in go the raw cashews!  Add some spices and voila!  Curry hummus!

Coconut Curry Hummus
Time: 40 minutes prep, 5 minutes blending
Servings: party-size servings

Ingredients:
        1 cup dried yellow split peas (about 3 cups cooked)
        3/4 cup lite coconut milk (from the can)
        1/2 cup raw cashews
        1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
        3 Tbsp curry powder
        1 tsp coriander
        1 tsp smoked paprika
        1/2+ tsp cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
        1/2 tsp ground ginger
        1/4 tsp onion powder
        1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:
1.)  To cook the dried yellow split peas, rinse and sort the peas.  Put the peas in a pot with three cups of water and heat to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until all of the water has been absorbed or has evaporated.  Stir occasionally over the last 10 minutes to ensure the peas dont stick to the pan and burn.  Allow to cool.
2.)  In a food processor, add all ingredients along with the cooled split peas.  Process until smooth and creamy, adding additional coconut milk and cayenne pepper to reach the desired texture and spiciness.
3.)  Top with sprinkled paprika and serve as a veggie and chip dip.  It can also be used as a sandwich or wrap spread.

Amys Notes:
After finishing this recipe, I used the hummus to make collard green veggie wraps.  With a little bit of siracha added, it was delicious!
This recipe makes quite a bit, so feel free to halve the recipe if you dont go through hummus so quickly.
If you dont happen to have yellow split peas, any other type of bean will do, but it wont have quite that curry-yellow color in the end.

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Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Some of you may remember Kevin and my distaste general disinterest for Valentines Day in previous years.  Kevin and I started dating a little over three years ago right before Valentines day, so we felt a bit awkward as to what our expectations of each other were on Valentines Day.  We have come to an understanding that we expect nothing special on Valentines day, but generally end up doing something fun together (preferably at home since most places are crowded).

In past years we have cooked together at home and enjoyed a night in watching a movie.  We are currently making our way through the James Bond collection that Kevin got from my parents this year for Christmas.  We just finished up The Living Daylights, which was actually pretty good after just watching A View to a Kill before.

As most people feel around Valentines Day, Im sure, I am craving something with a bit of sweetness to it.  I remembered how yummy my chocolate pudding was last year, so I decided to make another chia pudding:

Berry Coconut Chia Pudding

Servings: 6-8
Time: 5 minutes, plus 1 hour chill

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 1 16 oz can lite coconut milk
• 1 7 oz cube soft silken tofu, drained
• 6-8 dates
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• fresh berries to garnish

Instructions:

1. In a high speed blender, blend all of the ingredients except for the chia seeds and fresh berries.  Blend until very smooth and creamy.  It will be a little thicker than milk, but thinner than a smoothie.
2. Pour the blended ingredients into a medium sized bowl.  Stir in the chia seeds until they are fully coated and mixed into the liquid.
3. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.  Serve in a small bowl topped with fresh berries.  Store leftovers in an airtight container until all of your Valentines are sweetly satisfied!

Amys Notes:

Make sure to taste the blended pudding portion before combining it with the chia seeds.  You may find that you want to blend more dates to make the pudding sweeter.

For this recipe I used frozen organic sweet cherries for the liquid and fresh blackberries and blueberries to top, but feel free to mix it up however you would like. 

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