Random Recipe Wednesday: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

You know my obsession of trying weird and random things with food?  We're going to focus a little more on the random than the weird by (temporarily?) replacing Weird Recipe Wednesday with Random Recipe Wednesday.  Wait, it's more like renaming than replacing, because knowing me the recipe will likely involve some sort of weird factor anyway.  Okay, now that that's out of the way let's get started.

I'm a sucker for sales and deals, even when I don't need the item.  What can I say, it runs in the family.  Anyway, last week I happened upon jars of roasted red peppers marked down to 99 cents.  I proceeded to put 3 jars in my cart even though I've had an unopened jar of roasted red peppers in the pantry for several months.  Much to my delight, these sweet peppers rang up for only 89 cents a jar.  Since I now had four jars on hand I figured it was time to open one.  Guess what?  I think I know why they were on clearance.  Instead of the sweet roasted flavor you get when you roast your own red bell peppers, I tasted only a fake-smokey-chard flavor.  They certainly look like roasted red peppers, and the ingredient list doesn't say anything funky alluding to added flavoring.

So yes, 4 jars of not-so-sweet roasted red peppers.  The main reason I roast red peppers is to make my favorite hummus.  I haven't made it for quite a while because I usually manage to eat every single red pepper in sight before I get around to any roasting action.  Sorry, I'm having a hard time staying on track today, back to this hummus.  Don't be scared by the combination of spices.  I'm typically not a fan of curry and cumin, but they really work well with the other seasonings here.  The original recipe calls for tahini and olive oil.  This version is oil and tahini-free.  Feel free to use them if you wish, to be honest I make this a little differently each time depending on what I have on hand (see note in recipe).  The main thing is to keep the spices consistent and use roasted red pepper.  

Oh, and just to add a little more randomness, you should know that the word garbanzo sounds much cooler than chickpea.  Okay, that is all.  Go make some hummus, even if you don't have 4 jars of 89-cent roasted red peppers. 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed

1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers (or 1 red pepper, roasted)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1-2 Tbsp water, if needed

*optional variation:  Traditional hummus includes tahini, a sesame seed paste.  When I'm out of tahini but still want the flavor I sometimes add in a few drops of sesame oil.  A little peanut butter will also make do in a pinch.  I alternate between tahini, sesame oil, peanut butter or nothing at all depending on what I'm in the mood for. 

Instructions:

In the bowl of a food processor, process garlic clove until finely chopped. Add garbanzo beans, red peppers, lemon juice, salt, curry powder, cumin, coriander and black pepper.  Process until smooth. If needed add 1-2 Tbsp water to achieve desired consistency. 

Food for Thought: "It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves- in finding themselves." -Andre Gide