Hummus 3 Ways

Well, the holidays are over. The kids went back to school and I am a little sad about it. As much as I love them being at school, I also love having them at home. I am aware that I am a walking contradiction. We had a wonderful holiday, filled with lots of family time, good food, and good company. Santa was generous and we all were spoiled. New Years was an early family dinner at a new favorite restaurant and early to bed. Our New Years looks a lot different these days than they did pre-children. I much prefer it now than in days past. And now, we are back to normal life.

Over the holidays, I did some very casual entertaining, and by casual, I mean that you were asked to come in your pajamas. Everyone was relaxed and it was laid back and a nice way to spend a holiday. I loved it. When I am thinking about what I want to make for guests, I spend a lot of time on the main course and dessert, obviously. But I often forget about the appetizer. I need to have something for people to eat when they come in. It helps keep people’s blood sugar stable. There is nothing worse than very hungry dinner guests staring at you while you are cooking and you have nothing to offer them.

Over the years, I have gotten very good at coming up with appetizers that require minimal effort. One of my favorite things to put out is doctored hummus. There are so many ways that you can change up hummus and make it seem like you worked hard. A lot of times, I make a huge batch of hummus and have it in the fridge, but if I don’t, I like to pick up some hummus from Zoes Kitchen. They make theirs in house and no one will ever know that you didn’t make it yourself. If I am shopping for a dinner, I stop by the olive bar and pick up a few things to embellish my hummus and make it look pretty. Different kinds of olives, roasted peppers, roasted tomatoes, artichokes, just about anything works. Here are 3 of my go to ways to perk up some store bought hummus.

Zoes Kitchen Hummus
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
feta cheese
sliced olives
oven roasted tomatoes
lemon juice
toasted pine nuts
curry powder

Put prepared hummus into a bowl. It totally looks homemade that way.

Add the parsley and olive oil to the blender with some salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Pour over hummus.

Mix olive oil with a teaspoon of curry powder. Brush onto pita rounds that have been cut in half. Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown and crispy.

Hummus #2 – Layer hummus with feta cheese, sliced olives, and chopped roasted tomatoes. Done.

Hummus #3 – Squeeze a little lemon juice over hummus, drizzle extra virgin olive oil over top and a generous sprinkling of pine nuts. Hummus 3 ways, with zero effort. Add some pita chips and you are ready to go.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Zoes Kitchen. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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