Pumpkin Hummus with Spiced Whole Wheat Pita Chips PLUS Classic Hummus

Hummus is a dip made from crushed garbanzo beans.  Otherwise know as chick peas or ceci beans.  It inspires great passion among its devotees.

People are adamant about their favorite restaurant that makes it, their favorite brand (Sabra, for me), or the way they or their mother prepares it.

And they are certain, beyond a doubt, as to how it is made.

The classic hummus recipe consists of pureed garbanzo beans, tahini (sesame seed paste), lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper, and a little liquid (either water or garbanzo bean liquid.)

I take that classic mix and start playing.  I add a sliced green onion to the food processor (what!!??)

Sometimes a few shakes of cumin (say what??)

And here it is October.  The fall bounty has arrived.  Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere pumpkins.  I have a tendency to stockpile Trader Joe’s Organic 100% Pumpkin.  You know, for the breads, the muffins, the cakes, the soups.

I reached into my pantry to get out the cumin and saw a can of  recently-acquired pumpkin.  It called softly to me, “Yoo hoo!, Over here!”  I thought, “Okay, why the heck not?”  I tweaked, I twiddled, I consulted, and, voila!  I present to you Pumpkin Hummus.  Go ahead, give it a try, even you conformists out there.  You may just be in for a pleasant surprise.

But, wait!  If you’re going to get out the food processor, why not go all the way and make some baked pita chips out of whole wheat pita to go with it?  You get to spice it up with whatever you like, they have way less salt and who-knows-what, than the store-bought variety, and way cheaper.

Let’s talk seasonings…

When your friends exclaim incredulously, “You MADE these?”  You can humbly respond, “Why, yes.”

Pumpkin Hummus with Spicy Baked Whole Wheat Pita Chips

CLASSIC HUMMUS

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans

1/2 c. reserved garbanzo bean water

1/4 c. tahini

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 garlic clove, roughly cut

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1/2 t. cumin

salt & pepper to taste

1 T. olive oil

chopped Italian parsley or cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Place all ingredients, except for garbanzo bean water and parsley/cilantro, into food processor.  Pour about 3/4 of the water you have over the mix.  Pulse until coarse.  Add the rest of the water as needed to create a smooth consistency.

Place in serving bowl (or place in plastic container and freeze for later).  Adjust seasonings and stir.

To serve, top with a small drizzle of olive in a swirly pattern.  Add cilantro or parsley to top, or a light sprinkle of cumin.

PUMPKIN HUMMUS

Place all ingredients for classic hummus (see above)  in food processor bowl, and add:

1/2 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. powdered ginger

1/8 t. allspice

a bit of freshly grated nutmeg (oh, I’m so exact!)  If no freshly grated nutmeg, then add 1/8 t. ground nutmeg

1/8 t. cayenne pepper, or to taste

Process till smooth.

Spicy Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Ingredients:

1 pkg. standard size (not mini) whole wheat pita

olive oil spray (or olive oil)

1/2 t. sea salt

1/2 t. smoked paprika

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. black pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. sweet paprika

Optional: sesame seeds (I tried using them, but they fell off the pita chips.  Maybe the oil needs to be over them, rather than under them, once sprinkled on to pita chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º

Stack 3-4 pitas and cut into 4, then cut each 1/4 in half. For the math-phobic, you should have cut your stack into 8 sections.

Mix salt and all spices together in a small bowl.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet (foil-lined optional) with olive oil spray, or a small amount of olive oil.

Arrange pita wedges in a single layer on greased sheet.  You will need to do 2 batches or use 2 large baking sheets.

Spray pita chips with olive oil spray (the more time consuming method is to use a brush and brush pitas with olive oil).

Sprinkle half the seasonings over one sheet.

Bake for 3 minutes and toss the chips over, keeping them in a single layer.  Return to oven and bake for another 3 minutes until crispy.  You may need to put them in for another half-minute.  Depending on the heat of your oven, they should take 6-8 minutes to go from chewy to crispy.  Do not leave your kitchen during these 6 minutes.  It’s amazing how fast time flies by.  Blackened fish is great, but not blackened pita chips!

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