A New Take on Hummus

Being a little tight on cash since my big move, I have had to rely on some serious food basics. Let's just say I have eaten a whole lot of peanut butter and pickle sandwiches this month...

So when I went to whip up a batch of hummus, I realized that I did not actually have one of the key ingredients --- tahini. Counting the pennies in my change purse, I was made aware that tahini was probably not a top priority and was forced to find an alternative --- peanut butter.

Spicy Peanut Butter Hummus

1 can (540 mL) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp. water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp. cilantro
3 cloves garlic, minced
Sriracha, to taste
Pepper
olive oil

1. Place all of the ingredients (except olive oil) in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Drizzle in olive oil until you reach desired consistency. I used about a tablespoon.




I had a salad and a few of Mary's crackers with the hummus.

Dragon Rice Bowl

You may already be very much aware, but I haven't posted anything for about a month. This is not because I haven't been eating --- Mind you, I would like to say that as my meals have evolved around pickles and peanut butter (the two main ingredients which solely inhabitated my fridge for a few weeks.)

The main reason I have not been keepin' up with them ol' blogs is because I was living without internet for a bit there --- and after making the trek to Starbucks once every couple of days to check my email, Facebook, and all that jazz, the last thing I wanted to do was recall what I had eaten over the past 72 hours.

So having been wired for a few days now (FREE too as I am milking every Rogers promotion that I can) I have decided to get back on to the blogging bandwagon...Let me take you back to yesterday evening where I indulged into a satisfying "rice plate"

Fresh likes to call it a rice bowl...and to be more specific a Dragon Rice Bowl.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but I used the majority of the listed ingredients.

Dragon Rice Bowl
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 large zucchini, sliced diagonally
3 tomatoes, slice thickly
8 Marinated Tofu Steaks (see below *)
6 cups cooked brown basmati rice
1 batch Miso Gravy (see below **)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbsp. brown sesame seeds, toasted

* I marinated my "steaks" for about an hour in a combination of apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and fresh garlic.

** I didn't have all of the gravy ingredients on hand so I whipped up a little sauce that I found in Still Life with Menu (4 tbsp. yellow, Hatcho, or barley miso 6 tbsp. almond buter and 1 1/2 cups boiling water --- To the miso and almond butter, add a small amount of boiling water and mash with a spoon to make a paste. Continue to add the water until you are happy with the consistency of the sauce.)

Method

1. Grill the zucchini, tomatoes and tofu steaks in the oven at medium to high heat, until lightly browned.
2. Put 1 1/2 cups cooked brown basmati rice in a large rice bowl.
3. Pour one 4 ounce ladle of warm Almond Miso Sauce over the rice.
4. Arranged the grilled vegetables and tofu steaks around the inner edges of the bowl.
5. Put chopped cilantro and green onions on the sauce at the centre of the bowl.
6. Garnish with toasted brown sesame seeds (optional.) Repeat for each serving.

While I was roasting the vegetables, my place started getting just a LITTLE smokey --- The air circulation in a bachelor pad is less than satisfactory --- And as a result, the smoke alarm started screeching. I had to stand on my bed waving a towel for about 5 minutes...it really worked up a sweat. (Some of that sweat can be credited to the fear that that noise instilled...I thought my building was going to be evacuated!!)

When I told my sister what I had for dinner, she made sure to inform me that I cannot refer to my tofu as "steaks."

This dinner was pretty incredible. The sauce wasn't too overwhelming --- It could have used a little lime.

And the photos don't speak the truth --- I obviously added some Sriracha.