Happy Labor Day everyone!!

And Happy Day 1 of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart! Today may prove to be a bit of a challenge as it’s a holiday and I’m sure most people have a picnic of BBQ to go to, but don’t get discouraged. It’s all about making choices for your health, so simply do your best.

I noticed Hummus on the menu for this week’s kickstart and I’ve always wanted to make hummus! I already had a recipe I was saving to try which I’ll share here. I mix things up a bit but the base was from Vegetarian Times magazine. If you’d like to view the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart version, click here.

Ingredients:

• * 3 cups cooked chickpeas, or 2 15 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained twice, hot or warmed in the microwave.
• 2/3 cup water (plus or minus)
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup tahini

As I don’t have a food processor, I tend to use my blender and just toss everything in – I say use what you have.

1. Puree warm chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic and 2/3 cup water in blender for 3-4 minutes or until smooth, scraping down the bowl if necessary.

2. Add tahini, and puree 2 minutes or until the mixture has the consistency of soft cream cheese. I added 2 tablespoons more water here.

3. Season with Salt and Pepper if desired.

At this point, I added some roasted red peppers and a bit of paprika and chili powder to spice it up a bit. I poured into a bowl and topped it with some olive oil, some more chopped peppers and chopped olives.

Devour!

You could also add:

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes or
• some parsley or
• 3-5 tablespoons canned fire-roasted green chiles and chopped cilantro.

* I started from dried chickpeas – just to make my life a bit more fun. I let them soak in a pot of water over night, then drained and rinsed them twice. Then I put them back into the pot and covered them with water. I brought the water to a boil, reduced the heat and simmered them for 90 minutes. After the first 60 minutes I stirred in 1 teaspoon of baking soda (to help create a supersmooth texture).