Roasted Garlic Hummus

With the holidays quickly approaching, I have been busy looking for healthy snacks and appetizers to serve when entertaining, or simply when the family are all together. Our family love their snacks, and I like to have a few easy options that I can throw together quickly that will appeal to kids and adults. Healthy dips like this easy hummus are a great choice, as you can serve them with healthy whole grain chips, or raw veggies. Hummus is simply a creamy bean dip usually made with garbanzo beans and flavored with Tahini or sesame paste that can be flavored with many other ingredients. In this version, I used roasted garlic cloves to flavor the hummus, which adds a subtle sweetness that is very flavorful. Roasting garlic completely changes the flavor of this kitchen staple, turning it into a creamy, subtly sweet spread that is great slathered on crusty bread. Roasted garlic is also a great ingredient to use in flavoring dips, or mashed potatoes.

I will be honest, and when I first made this dip, I kept tasting it and thought it didn’t have enough garlic so added extra. The garlic flavor really does intensifies as it sits, so after a couple of hours the garlic flavor in the dip was actually too strong. The next time I made it I reduced the amount of garlic, and after being refrigerated for a couple of hours the flavor was perfect. I serve this hummus with whole wheat pita chips, along with celery and carrot sticks.

• Dried beans rock as they are packed with fiber, protein, folate & hard-working phytonutrients.
• This recipe uses much less oil than most hummus recipes though doesn’t sacrifice any flavor.