Banting-Friendly Green Hummus Recipe

We've tested a recipe from a cookbook that’s caught our attention. The following is adapted from The Real Meal Revolution: Changing the world. One meal at a time (Quivertree Publications, 2014).

Whether you’re banting* or not, a baby marrow (courgette/zucchini) hummus is an intriguing take on the classic delicious dip. With a good blender, it’s also incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients (for 500g)

500g courgettes, cut into chunks
oil for roasting
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup tahini (we used Health Connection's tahini, from Organic Zone)
2 cloves garlic (whole)
4 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp kosher salt, to taste
½ tbspn ground cumin

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Toss the baby marrows in a light coating of oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven until golden brown and mushy. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Place the roasted baby marrow in your OmniBlend along with the remaining ingredients and purée until smooth.
4. Leave for an hour before serving to infuse. We dipped raw broccoli and cauliflower and lightly blanched green beans into the hummus.

Conclusion

This is a novel way to expand your hummus repertoire and it quickly becomes a talking point at any social event. The taste is remarkably like hummus, even without the chickpeas that are normally such a substantial ingredient. We omitted the salt and would halve the recommended amount of garlic.

*Banting (both a name and a verb) refers to the high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet recommended by the authors: professor of exercise and sports science Tim Noakes, nutritional therapist Sally-Ann Creed, extreme adventurer David Grier and chef Jonno Proudfoot.