Tasty Foods: Zucchini Hummus

I'm tempted to run upstairs and whip up a batch of zucchini hummus just so I can take some photos for this post, but I'm out of avocados and there are no grocery stores open after 10 PM in SOMA (don't get me started on the EBAY Now ads that make ZERO sense to me.  Who goes to the park, thinks they are starting to burn and orders sun screen for delivery in about an hour????? By the time your sun screen arrives you WILL have a sunburn, I'm sorry to say.). 

Rod and Judy were awesome enough to share the recipe they served for zucchini hummus when we went over for dinner at their place the first time. I have to say, I like it more than "standard" hummus, and I really like hummus. 

Zucchini hummus is amazingly light and doesn't have the same heaviness that a bean based hummus has (though I guess you may be okay with that fullness). It's raw, it's vegan and it's delicious.  

I made two batches for our wedding. Originally I was going to make a double batch using the recipe from ibreatheimhungry, which is pretty darn delicious on it's own. It was the morning before the wedding and I had a couple of avocados that needed to be used so I decided to throw them in the mix.  

Zucchini hummus + Avocados = AMAZING!  

The original recipe is as follows.  I made it the first few times using my Ninja and it took a while to really break everything down and get it smooth.  We got a BlendTec (of Will it Blend? fame) and it made short work of the hummus (about 45 seconds).  Play with what you've got to find out how awesome this recipe is.  

It's amazing as a dip but I've also discovered how rad it goes with just about everything. Top a steak with it. Top a chicken breast with it.  Breakfast sausage?  It's delicious. 

ORIGINAL LOW CARB HUMMUS (from ibreatheimhungry.com)

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled & chopped raw zucchini

3/4 cups tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)

1 Tbl ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until thick and smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference.  Pour into a shallow bowl and garnish with parsley, paprika and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.  

My modified version of this recipe swaps out the 1/4 cup of olive oil for 2 avocados.  The remaining ingredients remain the same as do the instructions.  
 
This was one of the first non-AIP foods I tried eating and it appears I can tolerate seeds (sesame paste), which made me really happy.  Cumin is technically not AIP friendly, but I was going a bit nuts and just wanted "regular" food. I haven't had any sort of noticeable reaction to this recipe, so it's in regular rotation. 
 
Speaking of AIP, I think I need to get back to being super serious about it. For days now, my sinuses have been swollen (they feel like they "pop") and I've had terrible headaches. I'm not sure if it's the pressure changes due to the rain or what, but I'm pretty miserable. Loosening up made getting through the wedding a bit easier, but I really need to isolate foods to find out what is tolerable and what is not (the sunbutter cookies I came up with last week were amazing. Hopefully they weren't the issue). 

Gluten Free Goodness

I admit I still have cravings for foods I can't eat.  Typically attempts to recreate or purchase something pre-made are a great disappointment. 

Well, not tonight.  

I really wanted breaded chicken strips.  Every once in a while, I really love breaded chicken strips - in a salad, with honey mustard, you know stuff like that.  

I've made a few attempts at breaded chicken over the last few months and the Nan didn't approve. I've tried almond meal, coconut flour, etc.  They were okay, but not great.  

Well, tonight I tried something a little different. And it was AWESOME!!!!!!! (even the Nan approved) 

Here's the recipe: 

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup almond meal

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayanne pepper

Freshly ground pepper (I didn't measure it out, it's a pain to measure while grinding)

2 eggs

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Slice chicken breast thinly, about a 1/4 inch thick. 

Heat oil of your choice over medium heat (about 1/8-1/4 inch deep) in a skillet/frying pan. 

Mix all dry ingredients well in a shallow bowl.  

Beat the 2 eggs.  

Dip the chicken in the beaten eggs and dredge through in the almond/tapioca mixture.  Place in heated oil and cook until golden on both sides. 

Serve with your choice of dipping sauce (I'm partial to honey mustard or jalapeno yogurt dip) or slice for use in a salad.  

It hit the spot, which I haven't really been able to say about a lot of the foods I've tried over the last six months (especially pre-made foods).  

Since I can't enjoy a nice cold one, I tried J.K.'s Solstice Hard Cider.  I had tried a gluten free beer (corn based) a couple of months ago and was sorely disappointed.  It tasted sort of like super watered down raspberry soda (it was a "raspberry ale").  Well, I was definitely not disappointed in the Hard Cider.  It was crisp and delicious, refreshing and definitely observed the law of one-itudes.