Friday Recipe - the HUMMUS wrap!

THE HUMMUS WRAP

This is my household's go-to when we are tired of salad or just want something really easy. We are lucky to have a Whole Foods about a mile away that has fresh pico de gallo, tabouleh, and hummus. Full disclosure: these go-tos actually came about from the hummus and tabouleh wraps we would pick up if we were in a bind and decided we would EASILY tweak them and make them more nutritious and fully organic!

If the hummus is already made, or you have some store-bought, this is truly a quick and filling and delicious meal. The ingredients needed are:

• Tortilla or lettuce good for wraps (romaine, butter, collard)
• Lettuce (if using tortilla)
• Red Bell Pepper
• Avocado
• Hummus (recipe for homemade hummus provided below)

PICO DE GALLO

• Tomato
• Onion
• Cilantro   
• Jalapeno
• Lemon or lime
• Optional: Parsnip

I did not provide any quantities (besides the hummus) because you can put as much or as little of whatever you like into your wrap.

Start with the pico to let the citrus marinate the ingredients. I wash and chop up the tomato, onion, cilantro and jalapeno. If you want to include the parsnip, I recommend a small food processor to mince it up and mix it with the pico. Drizzle the pico with lemon or lime juice. Jicama or pineapple could also inject a little sweetness to the pico stuffing.

While that marinates, I set out my tortillas to thaw (I use Food for Life Organic Sprouted Grain Tortillas). While they thaw, I wash and chop my bell pepper and avocado. Now we are ready to put it all together.

Slather the tortilla (or lettuce) with hummus and top with lettuce (yes! you can stuff lettuce with more lettuce!), pico, bell pepper and avocado. My husband and I have hot sauce on hand to spice up the wraps. Some other great toppings are shredded carrots, cabbage, cucumbers or zucchini. Some diced apple, perhaps. Let your taste buds lead the way! Just be ready and have a fork handy for the mess that ensues from over-filling the tortillas. Now doesn't that look yummy!!

This is one I did with cabbage and green beans - with a side of pickled garlic!

Ok, as promised, here is a recipe for a great basic hummus.

BASIL-GARLIC HUMMUS 

• 2 cups (or 1 can) cooked or sprouted chickpeas
• 3 cloves garlic
• small handful fresh basil
• dash sea salt
• olive oil/tahini as desired (no more than 3 Tbsp needed)
• sun dried tomato, optional (1/3 cup diced after soaking in water for 20 minutes and rinsing)

Put the chickpeas, garlic, basil, salt and any desired sun-dried tomatoes and/or oil/tahini into food processor and blend. Add water/oil as needed to achieve desired smoothness. If you used canned chickpeas, the liquid can be used here.



For those seeking to go all-raw, and can't get any sprouted chickpeas, look for a zucchini hummus recipe. I would recommend one but have not yet found one that I like yet!