Day 34-38 salad, more salad, and a hummus-type dip

Man!  I have to stop putting this off because I kind of forget everything I ate over the past 5 days.

Thursday, February 3, I drove up to R's for a game night with some friends.  All the food I ate was homemade but I didn't take any photos.

On Friday I stayed at work a bit late and only got home about half-an-hour before R got to my place.  We decided to order pizza but I didn't want to gorge myself on it so I decided to make a spinach salad first.

Spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, yellow tomatoes and avocado.  Yum!  I decided to try a new Epicure mix I have for a Classic Vinaigrette.  I just added some of the mix to oil and balsamic vinegar and voila!  Dressing.  It was quite good.

The best part, though, was after eating a plateful of salad I couldn't eat much pizza.  Two small slices and I was full to the brim.  It was excellent!  I couldn't even eat another slice of pepperoni.

Saturday...  we didn't make anything.  We got up late and went skiing.  I don't even remember what we had for breakfast but for dinner we ate out at Darcy McGees for dinner.

On Sunday we didn't eat much either.  We split a cinnamon bun for breakfast, split half a rack of ribs for lunch, and went to a friends for dinner.

We're right back at our old bad habits!!  The dinner at the friend's house was nice.  We had a backed pasta with homemade tomato sauce and fried veggies.  Delish!

Today I decided to make another salad because I needed to use up the veggies.  Can I just say I love salad?!?  I really do!  Especially with avocado.  This time I added some chick peas for protein and some snow peas I had in the fridge.

I figured that wouldn't really be good enough for the blog so I decided I would also make a hummus-type bean dip.

I went to Market Organics to pick up some tahini and my favourite pitas from the Middle East Bakery on Somerset St. but to my dismay they were all out of the pitas!!!  I was quite disappointed but now that I think about it it's probably a good thing.  Had I been able to get them I probably would have eaten the bag of pitas with hummus all night.

Sigh.

Instead I bought some Pita Break lavash crackers.  I suppose they'll do.  At  least I won't over eat.

So... the hummus.  I call it a hummus-type dip because I bought some black soy beans to throw in as well.  I was curious how it would turn out.

I followed a recipe I found on about.com (posted below) substituting some of the black beans for chick peas.

The only thing I found was it was very hard to get it to mix properly.  I don't think I saved enough of the liquid from the can.  That or my blender was not the best mixing tool.  Also the organic tahini I bought was thicker than I remembered so that could have been part of the problem.

The soy beans definitely give it a different flavour but it's good.

What I would really like to do is roast some garlic for the dip.  That will have to happen next time.  I was too tired tonight.

Hopefully they'll have pitas at the store tomorrow.

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

Variations

For a spicier hummus, add a sliced red chile or a dash of cayenne pepper.

Storing Hummus

Hummus can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and can be kept in the freezer for up to one month. Add a little olive oil if it appears to be too dry.