I signed up to make dinner for the vegetarians of the Rincon-University Marching Band. The direction I was given was to make something that would go with a fruit cup and a roll. Hmm, I thought… how about hummus instead of a roll? I only needed to make 12 dinners, but I ended up making 15, as these are teenagers, and someone will want seconds.
The menu was:
- Willcox Salad with added cooked mung beans, for extra protein
- Avocado Hummus
- Zucchini Polenta Casserole, baked in individual tins
Using avocado in the hummus was not part of my original plan. I was going to make the traditional variety with chickpeas and tahini. Lo and behold, I was out of tahini. I didn’t feel like going to the store, so I got creative. What could take the place of the tahini, as a thickener and binder? Avocado!
Ingredients
- 1 can garbanzo beans, 15.5 oz.
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Zatar
- 1/4 – 1/3 C. oil (see note)
- 1 avocado
- Drain half of the liquid out of the can of garbanzo beans. Use the remainder in the recipe. Remove avocado flesh from the skin.
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth, tasting as you go, adding additional lemon juice, salt or pepper as desired. You may or may not need as much as 1/3 cup of oil. Start with the smaller amount.
Note on oil: I had always used olive oil when making hummus, until Chef Mike Felde, Executive Chef at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, did a cooking activity with our youth program, which is called Handmaker Youth Leadership Team. While making hummus with the group, Chef Felde explained that he always uses corn oil for hummus, as olive oil has such a strong taste, that it overpowers the dish. I used half olive oil and half corn oil in my recipe.
