Zucchini Hummus Recipe!

I have brought this dip to a few holiday parties and everyone seems to love it! It is a healthier alternative to traditional hummus made from chickpeas.  Plus, I have not had much luck with the whole soaking, boiling, cooking chickpeas.  Those suckers do NOT want to get soft!

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups zucchini (peeled and sliced)
1/2 c. raw tahini paste (or 1/4 c. raw tahini sauce)
juice from 1 lemon (organic)
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley (or dried parsley flakes work too)
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp.  extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sea salt

Place ingredients in blender (Vitamix preferred or other high speed blender) and blend on high for 15 seconds.  pour into bowl, cover and chill for 2 hours.  Top with paprika, parsley flakes and pine nuts and a bit of olive oil.

Note: Raw tahini paste is best to use in this recipe, but I had a hard time finding it (they don't have it at Sprouts or Trader Joe's.  I use 1/4 c. tahini sauce.)  I tried adding xantham gum to one batch to increase thickness, and the result was a gummy bouncy texture that I did not like at all! So try to find the tahini paste at Mother's market or your local health food store!

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Oh Blogging, How I've Missed You

I have not posted for quite some time due to the fact that a lot has been going on in my personal life.  Sometimes, when things get hairy, my instinct is not to sit down and write.  A lot of the light-hearted posts that used to flow freely from my fingertips were not coming so easily these past couple months.  We have been through a lot of changes to name a few: moving, losing my job at a law firm, being in escrow on a house and then backing out of it due to the change in our financial circumstances.  2011 has brought a tremendous amount of change, both the good and bad varieties.  I never imagined I would be entering the new year jobless, in a new apartment, wondering what 2012 will bring. 

By way of recap (2011):

Highlights: getting married, our new puppy, God providing in ways we never could have expected or dreamed. 

Lowlights: Bryan's grandmother passed in May, around the same time my parents announced their divorce after 31 years of marriage.  We lost the adorable little house in Fullerton we had grown to love, I've seen 7+ doctors in an effort to diagnose and treat my chronic inflammation.  I took a new job (sadly leaving the DA's office, my home away from home) at a civil law firm in June hoping to gain new experiences and expand my horizons and skills as an attorney.  Sadly, this November I lost my job due to taking time off for my illness. 

I'm not the only one who switched jobs this year.  Bryan also switched companies in October.  AND...we moved, twice. 

Looking back on this year - the one word I can describe it as is ROLLER-COASTER.  There are only so many life-altering events that can happen to a person in a 12 month period of time.  I am blessed for all the amazing family and friends and blessings in my life, but I would be lying if I said that it has been easy to keep a happy face through all of this ahem, adversity and change of circumstances. 

Nevertheless, it is my new years resolution (one of them) to get back into blogging.  So cheers to 2012 and all the many wonderful blessings coming to all of us, to trusting in God's faithfulness, and being thankful in every circumstance that we are Saved!

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