Zucchini & Cauliflower Hummus

I am on day SIX of my 14-day nut butter detox...and I am alive! ;-) Okay, it hasn't been that bad at all. I have missed having a "dip" for fruits and veggies. I used to make my own hummus all of the time.  Soooo, I decided I would try my hand at making a bean-less hummus (since I don't eat any legumes).  Traditional hummus calls for: garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  In place of the beans I would use zucchini and cauliflower.  I did not have tahini on hand, so I figured I would replace it with some nuts or nut butter (which I did not have readily available because of my detox).  It was super easy to make and super tasty!

In other news...since I am on a roll with the nut butter detox, I figured why not throw in another challenge or detox. Tomorrow I am starting The 21-Day Sugar Detox by Balanced Bites.  A sugar detox for me will entail eating less fruit and more veggies! I will do a more in depth blog about the detox this weekend.   I am very excited.

 I suppose you can have the recipe now!

Zucchini & Cauliflower Hummus (Beanless)

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 zucchinni's, peeled and cubed
1-2 tablespoons tahini or nut butter or 1/3 cup pistachios (I used pistachios)
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. While oven is heating, place cauliflower florets onto an oiled or parchment paper lined pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Roast for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. 

4. If using whole nuts, process for a minute or two in food processor or blender before adding the rest of the ingredients

5. Place cubed zucchini, roasted cauliflower and remaining ingredients in food processor or blender and puree away! (I used my VitaMix)  Watch it- you don't want it to become too pureed like baby food- you want it to come out the consistancy of traditional hummus. 

6. Taste, add pepper, salt and lemon juice to preference.

7. Enjoy with some veggies or as a spread in a lettuce wrap. Refrigerate in an airtight container. 

Variations:

• Any nuts would work, pistachios is all I had on hand.
• If you don't have any tahini, nuts or nut butter, no stress. It will be okay without - keep in mind that there wont be any protein. I would recommend starting out with a little less olive oil if you are not using nut butter.
• Try other veggies: avocado, roasted or raw bell peppers.
• Other spices and herbs: cayenne pepper, cumin, cilantro etc