Avocado Almond Butter Hummus

For all my friends, family and hummus enthusiasts out there [you know who you are… I’ve already been told by a couple people calling this dish hummus is “blasphemy” :p] who cringe at the idea of me calling this dish hummus [due to its addition of avocado and almond butter] I say the following – first off, what’s in a name really? Call this dip whatever you want, guaca-hummus, snack-time-heaven-dip, ceara-mole…. [the list goes on…]. Just do one thing, stop buying the store bought hummus, whip up this dip in less than 10 minutes, cut up some bite size veggies for dipping, dip them in this creamy, flavourful hummus, and as it sinks into your taste buds, you will wonder why you ever bought grocery store hummus in the first place. 😉

 

According to moi, the world is divided into two groups of people – people who have tried hummus and love it and people who do not know what they are missing …. because until this point in my life, I have never met anyone who doesn’t love hummus. In any case, I think for most the love one has for hummus is love at first sight.

 

The addition of the avocado and almond butter into this hummus is kind of a fluke. I started out by making my favourite traditional-style hummus and the chickpeas just were not getting creamy enough in the food processor. So, I scrounged my fridge for a solution, and found a bright green, perfectly soft, ripe avocado ready to be thrown into this dip-in-the-making. Then I realized I was out of tahini [impulsive cook much? … ] – but all was not lost because I remembered the almond butter sitting contently in my cupboard I lugged home with me from Canada. And then, my avocado-almond butter hummus came to be.

 

Hummus is exactly what I need right now as I prepare for my last and final exam of this semester  [only 3 semesters and a thesis left to go of my Master’s!]. It reminds me of the warm Mediterranean sea, summertime, and everything that goes along with summer that I miss so much during the cold winter months. I don’t really have much to complain about here – this winter in Belgium has been pretty “warm” by Canadian standards. I have even managed to start training in the morning for a 16 km race which J and I have signed up for in April! As for my friends up north in Canada sending you lots of love as you brave through polar vortexes, winter cold shakes, and these last couple frigid months. If you aren’t able to go south for a week make this hummus to power through this frigid time – it might not be exactly the same but it might just do it for me 😉 If you are going down south – make this hummus anyways and bring it on your travels as a healthy snack.