Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
About 8 or 9 months ago, I bought a Ninja blender.
I don’t know about some of you, but for me, it was what I would consider a pretty big financial splurge. I can’t just go around buying up a $170+ ANYTHING, no matter how much I love my kitchen gadgets. However, there was a major discount in the department store on their kitchen appliances so I was tempted. And once I get tempted, things just typically seem to take off from there.
I reasoned to myself that it wasn’t going to be likely that this blender would ever come at this price again, or at least in the near or distant future. I reasoned that if I did actually ‘treat myself’ and buy it then I’d really and finally get into the whole ‘smoothie/shake’ thing and start taking them with me to work to give myself a nice little health boost. I reasoned that the advertisement said that the blender could actually double as a pretty good food processor as well.
Long story short, I bought it.
And to make the story even shorter I’ll just come right out and admit: the smoothie health kick thing really didn’t work out. I just…I don’t like them. I’m not a fan of drinking much of anything besides water and coffee to be honest and the idea of drinking ‘meals’ just turns off my appetite almost completely. I probably made like, four smoothies before I called it quits and used all the fruit I had bought up for that purpose to just bake a pie.
But I still had the blender.
Well, I wasn’t about to let my Ninja go to waste. I’ve been using it. Just not as a blender. Mainly it just helps me put together my pie crusts more easily and less messily than I did before by hand.
Oh yeah, and they’re not lying about the quality of that blade, guys. It’s very sharp. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious sharp. As my knicked, cut and sliced open fingers can fully attest to.
Recently, I’ve found a new efficient use for my Ninja blender that gives me new hope that just maybe I wasn’t a sucker that day in the department store when I splurged and bought it.
That new hope is Hummus.
One thing you should all should know about me and hummus: I’m kinda obsessed with it. It’s the universal condiment; I can eat it on anything. And I do mean ANYTHING.
I’m pretty good at practicing portion control with food in general, but let me tell you something: I have little to no portion control when it comes to hummus. Nothing but the realization that if I don’t stop eating it, I will run out and have to buy more will actually make me stop and put it away.
Good thing it’s pretty healthy all things considered, huh?
Grocery store hummus is ridiculously overpriced, so every time I go to a Middle Easter or Lebanese restaurant, I will try their hummus, just to see what their ‘packing’ so to speak. If the joint has more than one flavor of hummus, that’s a pretty good sign so far as I’m concerned. It means that the owners really have their priorities in order. They know what life’s all about. The best hummus I’ve ever had comes from a Middle Eastern deli in my town called Woody’s Oasis, coming in Regular, Spicy and Garlic flavors. I could eat it every single day for the rest of my life and never, ever get tired of it. My wallet may be lighter though.
This is where my Ninja came in. I decided to put that baby to good use and try making hummus of my own at home with one of my favorite ingredients: roasted red pepper.
Now for those that don’t have a Ninja, don’t worry about it: I really don’t think that your hummus will suffer because of the secret weapon in my back pocket that is the KEY to super smooth, creamy hummus every time. Want to know what it is?
Water + Baking Soda. Boiling your chickpeas/garbanzo beans in a combination of the two will peel them for you, eliminating those pesky outer skins that oftentimes result in thick, pasty hummus that no one wants. So whatever you do, do not-DO NOT- skip the step of simmering the chickpeas in the water/baking soda. You’ll live to regret it, I promise you.
Now look: my hummus may not be the hummus from Woody’s Oasis, but I gotta tell you all that I was pretty impressed with myself when I took that first bite.
Because it’s still pretty friggin delicious. So much so that I turned right around and made a second batch almost immediately. Remember? I have no sense of control when it comes to this stuff. But it’s chickpeas, so that makes it okay.
Right?
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Recipe Courtesy of Vitamix.com
Ingredients
To Peel Chickpeas
- Water
- A few tsp. of baking soda
For Hummus
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 ounces roasted red pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for serving
- ½ cup tahini paste
- 2 ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 3 cups canned chickpeas, drained and peeled
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Smoked paprika, optional
Directions
1. Pour chickpeas into a pot and submerge with water.
2. Add baking soda and bring to a rolling simmer, over medium high heat. The skins should begin to rise to the top.
3. Using a slotted spoon or spider skimmer, remove the skins from the pot and discard. When the chickpeas are just tender (but not mushy) drain them in a colander, then immediately submerge them in cold water. Use your hands and lightly rub them together; the remaining skins should slide off and either float to the bottom or rise to the top. Discard skins.
4. Place the peeled chickpeas, as well as all the other remaining ingredients into a food processor or blender and process on high until smooth and creamy. Drizzle with olive oil and smoked paprika and serve.
We hare big fans of hummus and we will try this tomorrow that is for sure 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!!!
Thank YOU Renee, I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed 🙂
Love hummus and roasted peppers this sounds really good. I really need a new blender have been toying with the idea of a vita mix but the ninja sounds really good and not nearly as expensive as the vita mix. A good blender is a great investment and your hummus is evidence of that for sure,
I’ve heard great things about the Vitamix, but I get FANTASTIC results with the Ninja Suzanne. So if you’re looking for a cheaper option, I can strongly recommend it, especially if you’re into smoothies shakes and the like. Thank you!
Looks gorgeous. I’m all for finding new uses for toys I already own. Especially expensive ones!
Here’s a really good, super easy use for it- thank you!
I love hummus! Especially using dried chickpeas instead of canned. I will definitely try this. My favorite restaurant has an appetizer platter with three different hummus flavors, I can’t get enough of it! I am with you, smoothies aren’t my thing. We blend veggies when I love them whole?! I like to eat them, not drink them!
I could never get behind the idea of blended veggies. I don’t care what anyone says: you CAN taste the spinach and kale in those smoothies. You just can. And it tastes like blegh,Which is not to say I don’t like kale and spinach- I love them actually.Just not blended lol
If you do use dried chickpeas, I would just recommend soaking them overnight. Thank you, I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
I hear you about kitchen splurges. I wanted an Actifry so badly and couldn’t bring myself to buy it myself but I luckily got one as a gift and it’s AMAZING! I’m glad you found a good use for your Ninja. Just keep your fingers out of it! Haha! Thanks for sharing this recipe. It looks incredible 🙂
OMG! I had never heard about this Actifry until you mentioned it. I went and browsed the website and now I want one so bad! This cannot be good for my bank account lol
Thank you 😉
Haha! No problem! It’s amazing and surprisingly versatile 🙂 I have some recipes on my blog for it, if you get one.
This sounds divine!
Thanks Gabby 🙂
I haven’t used red peppers in hummus before. Love that orangey-hue colour. Will give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you- it’s a wonderful combination. Red peppers have always been my favorite!
Such a good recipe idea, I LOVE hummus! 🙂
Keep up the great work!
Love,
Isabella
Thank you Isabella, hummus is one of my all time favorite foods.Never gets old 😉
Love you homous 🙂 I was given one of those fab blenders designed for making smoothies and juices and I don’t ever have either so I did question the gift…! However, it makes the best homous EVER!
Thank you Elaine 😀
What a creative recipe Jess! Matt absolutely LOVES hummus and he makes it all the time in our food processor. I am 100% with you on the smoothie thing… I just never really got on board with that health trend. So glad you found other uses for your awesome ninja blender!
Thank you Heather, tell Matt about this one, I think it’s a real winner 😀
oooh – super sharp blender – very good buy indeed – even if you don’t “heart” smoothies – how about frozen strawberries to make a sorbet for dessert with just a little sugar? Frozen watermelon to make a superb margarita, just add some tequila and blend, fava bean purees – I cannot tell you how much I love them, or you can use cannellini beans or big white lima beans to make a different kind of hummous, just to change it up a little, OR you could make a gazpacho – if you are anywhere hot a gazpacho is a wonderful cold soup – healthy refreshing and yummy. I am still holding out for a 5000 dollar super special microtome “blender”, without the expectation that the price will ever be discounted to the level needed for me to buy 🙂 so I enjoy thinking about blender uses
I’ve really wanted to try black beans or lima beans to make hummus with, as I love them both and think they would create a nice texture. Thanks Polianthus!
Oh, we eat lots of hummus here! Store bought brands (yes, we do pick those up in a pinch) and homemade with tahini and fresh lemon juice. Yours looks amazing!! One of these days, I’m going to splurge on a fancy blender.
Best,
Allison
Thanks Allison,
I think the store bought brands taste great (when they don’t have listeria in them lol) but I just can’t afford what they charge for them .
I’d say to splurge on a fancy blender if you’re going to use it a lot. I don’t regret getting mine because I love hummus and use it to put together pie crust dough…but it was an impulse buy. Haha 🙂
STOP!! I’m at work currently trying to not eat my hummus in my mini fridge, and your beautiful hummus is making this IMPOSSIBLE
Oh I am definitely the WRONG one to talk to about self control when it comes to hummus. The wrongwrongWRONG one lol
Thank you 🙂
I’m with you – hummus is amazing and versatile. Love it. I’m sure you’ll find lots of brilliant uses for that blender as the year goes on, definitely not wasted money 🙂
Thank you, I’m really trying to use it as much as I can so I don’t feel guilty for the $ splurge lol
Looks great, Jess! How did you know that I made hummus last night and thought to myself “man, I wish I had some red peppers to throw into this!” ? Lol
Oh, I’m just psychic like that I guess lol
Or hummus is just one of those wonderful things that is always on somebody’s mind. Thank you 😉
I love hummus, too–this looks so good! I want to get a better blender sometime, so I’ll have to keep the Ninja in mind!
Thanks Nancy, it’s good investment if you like smoothies/shakes and of course hummus…and judging by your past posts, I’d think it’s safe to say you do 🙂
Love your title, cooking as sport is awesome! And your hummus looks great too!
Thank you so much 😀
Oooh love the color of your hummus. The recipe sounds really good. Good one! 🙂
Thank you Sadia!
This looks delicious! I love making hummus and this looks like a great variation!
Thanks Jenna, if you like making your own hummus, I promise you’ll LOVE this 🙂
Wow – this hummus with a chip or tortilla would be amazing!
Looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try it.
I love hummus and the roasted red pepper is my favorite! I will be trying your version especially since it is getting so nice out and people will be coming out of their hibernation caves and visiting my home. 🙂
This hummus looks delish! You have a beautiful blog by the way, lovely layout and theme!
I just posted a green hummus recipe…saying my next hummus was going to be roasted pepper !! 🙂 Great minds!! xxx Thanks for following me, I really appreciate it as I am a newbie in this field 😉
You have a great blog already, I love your recipes and photos. Thank YOU for the follow and for the compliments 🙂
I have a Ninja too, so excited to put it to use for this yummy hummus, and great post!