Spicing up your hummus!

My love of cooking does not necessarily mean that I love menu planning. Planning a menu is probably the hardest part (I think) of the restaurant and catering business.  But on the rare occasion a light bulb will actually go off in my brain telling me I need to make something.  Generally, being a self-proclaimed foodie-slash-culinary student and all, I want to make food during most of my day, but only on the occasion is it that I have an idea and want to make it immediately.

This was the case this past Friday night after a day of Costco shopping and frozen yogurt eating with my mom.  And no, we did not have the frozen yogurt at Costco.  Tempting, but I prefer self-serve!

Coconut and coffee self-serve soft-serve to be exact, with three different chocolate toppings. I?m addicted to chocolate chips I tell you!  Does anyone else have the problem of continuously going back to the bag of chocolate chips hiding out in the freezer during the course of your day?  I?m just saying.

But I digress.. on to dinner.

Basically, I wanted to make a Mexican inspired hummus to act as the ?beans? in this little breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  And to be honest, it was a bit inspired by HEAB?s recent delicious looking lunches.  I could easily see this (with a few additions and alterations) on a breakfast menu I might create someday.  It was so yummy!

One corn tortilla topped  with a spoonful of Green Chili-Jalapeno Hummus, a Poached Egg, a bit of salsa and cilantro.  For a more substantial dinner (I ate this fairly late) I would eat two.

Green Chili-Jalapeño Hummus:

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 small cans diced fire roasted green chilies
1 jalapeño, minced
3 small cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 T lemon juice (about a half of 1 lemon)
2-4 oz water
4-6 oz tahini
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the food processor, and whirl it up until smooth.
Scrape sides making sure to get all the goodness incorporated!
Check seasoning.  Taste your food!
Chill, and reserve.

Trust me, it?s delicious!

As for me? I?m officially back in school.  I swear after arriving back in New York around 9 PM last night, unpacking, and getting up at 5 AM this morning for class?I am wiped!  One hour into class this morning?knee deep in leaked faucets, bread needing to be sliced, and maintenance people trying to get our ovens working?for a minute there I forgot we even took a vacation!

Craziness that is my first year of culinary school is almost over though guys.  I have six weeks of school, and then I head off to Manhattan for my externship!  Cannot. Wait. To. Get. Off. Campus.  But wait.. didn?t I just get back?

Yes.

For those of you in school, when does your semester start?  Are you excited?  Do you live in a dorm, apartment, or at home?  How do you like it?  I?m glad I got to at least experience dorm life, but yeah, not for me.  :/  I hope you all are enjoying the last of summer break!  It goes by so quickly?

Just  a fun fact? I currently have zero food in my dorm room, and just polished off my last 1/3 cup of instant oats mixed with a  #$%@-ton of cocoa powder and water for a little cocoa oats action before bed.

Mmmm, when in doubt.  Oats.

Tagged: cooking, culinary school, frozen yogurt, hummus, oatmeal, recipe