MAKES ABOUT 5 CUPS
When writing the opening menus for CRU, I knew I wanted a sharable vegetarian appetizer, a crowd-pleaser of sorts. We figured that nearly everyone loves hummus. This started a crusade to make it slightly more interesting and ended with us making lots of different veggie-based hummus recipes. The first year was carrot and then we rolled through parsnips, autumn squashes, roasted beets, zucchini, and sweet peas. We serve our hummus with a whole-grain flatbread, olives, and lots of gorgeous crudités.
INGREDIENTS
6 carrots coarsely chopped (4 cups)
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained (or 2 cups home-cooked chickpeas)
½ cup tahini
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Olive oil
Black dry-cured olives, pitted
Coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
Place the carrots in a medium saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil; lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until completely tender. Add the chickpeas to the carrots for the last 5 minutes of cooking. (Heating the chickpeas makes a smoother hummus.)
Thoroughly drain the carrots and chickpeas and transfer to a large bowl. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and cumin and puree the mixture, in batches, using a food processor. Transfer to a serving bowl and top the hummus with a drizzle of oil, a scattering of olives, and a handful of mint leaves. Serve.