Salsa and Hummus Recipes, Homemade

I love to make fresh salsa and homemade hummus. Fresh salsa and homemade hummus are perfect dishes to take to parties, along with a bag of tortilla chips. Here are recipes for both, along with some tips for substitutions and tweaking.

SALSA!

One medium onion, cut into chunks

One cup of washed and dried fresh cilantro, stems removed

Two or three hot peppers, such as jalapeno and Serrano, with stems, membranes, and seeds removed, cut into chunks

One large tomato, cut into chunks

One-half a small cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks

One clove garlic

Fresh squeezed juice from one lime

One 8-oz can Hunts Roasted Garlic tomato sauce

One tablespoon of spicy Mexican-style seasoning. (I use Salsa Salad Seasoning from Penzeys Spices. You can substitute any seasoning that is meant for fresh salsa, black beans, or green salads.)

Place onion in the carafe of a food processor, chop coarsely, add cilantro and hot peppers, chop into small pieces. Add tomato, cucumber and garlic. Chop briefly; mixture should be chunky.

When making salsa, because of the different textures, I chop (pulse) the ingredients separately and then mix them together at the end. Keep an eye on the ingredients and don’t over-process or they will turn to mush.

Pour the mixture into a bowl, add lime juice and tomato sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and salsa seasoning. Serve with tortilla chips or Primizie Crispbreads for the perfect dip. Add a large spoonful on the side of a Mexican food plate such as enchiladas, rice and beans. Pile over a guacamole dip. Place on top of chalupas and nachos. Fresh, tasty, healthy salsa, the perfect touch to a spectacular Mexican food dish!

*This just in -- Better Homes and Gardens best products for 2015, Primizie Crispbreads was one of the products chosen. I'm excited because they are made right here in Austin, Texas. Made from all-natural ingredients, these vegan-approved crackers won’t crumble when you dip them into your favorite dip.

Homemade Hummus

Two cups of canned garbanzo beans, drained. Reserve the liquid in a separate bowl. I have also used navy beans instead that I had cooked from scratch.

1/3 cup tahini *

¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic

2 Roasted red peppers, skin removed**

1 Roasted yellow pepper, skin removed**

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pinch paprika

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

* What is tahini? Tahini is simply ground-up toasted sesame seeds!

Tahini is used mainly in hummus, in Baba Ghanoush, in dips and dressings. In the past, tahini has been difficult to find in my part of the world, but I have noticed that it is becoming more available.

It is also expensive. You can make your own! Buy hulled sesame seeds in bulk. You can freeze what you don't use. One cup of sesame seeds will make about 3/4 cup of tahini. Carefully toast the sesame seeds until they are golden brown but watch them carefully and do not allow them to burn. This will take about 5 minutes. You can toast them in a skillet on the stove top over medium heat, or on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees. Let them cool completely. Place the toasted sesame seeds in the food processor along with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Grind until you have a thick, smooth consistency.

Don't have any sesame seeds, but you do have walnuts? Make walnut tahini, using the same recipe as above. Chop the walnuts into small pieces, place in the food processor, and grind along with olive oil and a pinch of salt. (Roasted and ground-up walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and some Greek yoghurt make a wonderful salad dressing.)

To make the hummus, place some of the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, roasted peppers, and garlic in the food processor. Using the Chop button, pulse until smooth. Empty into a bowl, process the next batch until done. Add some of the reserved liquid if the mixture is too thick. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

** To roast the peppers, cut each one into four sections, discarding the stem, membranes and seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in a 500 degree oven, skin side up, until skin blisters and begins to darken. Immediately place the pieces in a sealed plastic baggie for ten minutes or so. Peel off and discard the skin. Cut into smaller chunks. Add the pieces of pepper to the food processor along with the rest of the mix and blend until almost smooth.

Add a big bag of Primizie cheese and garlic crispbread and voila! You have the perfect contribution to take to the party.

Both these dishes are quick and easy to make using one of my favorite kitchen appliances, the Cuisinart Mini-Prep food processor.

The Cuisinart Mini-Prep DLC-2A Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor is made for use in the US, as it is 120 volt, 60 Hz, and 250 watts. It is BPA free. I appreciate the Cuisinart Mini Prep’s powerful yet quiet operation, small size, and easy cleanup.

Its small size would make it ideal for a small apartment or a travel trailer. It doesn’t take up much room at all in my pantry. It has turned out to be such a good buy.

Cleanup is so simple. The base isn’t submersible, but it doesn’t need to be, because everything lifts off and rinses quickly in hot soapy water. There are only three pieces to clean, the carafe, the blade unit, and the lid. I just wipe the base unit with a damp paper towel if needed.

This food processor is small, only 3 cups, so you usually must work in batches, but this is fine with me. The price is quite reasonable for such a durable long-lasting machine.

I use it for chopping and grinding, preparing such dishes as fresh salsa and hummus. I make both these dishes often; my recipes appear above.

This little powerhouse is ideal for preparing baby food, cole slaw, making your own bread crumbs, and chopping or grinding nuts.

The blades have two sides. Pressing the "chop" button deploys the sharp edge of the blade to chop onions, herbs, or bread crumbs. Pressing the "grind" button reverses the blade in the other direction so the blunt side can grind nuts.

I hope you enjoy making fresh homemade salsa and fresh homemade tahini! Both are great ideas for taking to a party, including in your party menu at home, or just for the family relaxing at home.