We're approaching that time of year- food-centered holidays! As much as I love fall celebrations, these events typically come along with foods that aren't really congruent with my health beliefs. What's a flexitarian to do? Well, my solution (no matter how many weird looks I get) is to bring my own dish! I went through years of complaining about party food before I realized the only solution (other than not going to the party) is to bring my own! Hunger crisis averted :-).
Last night I went to a friend's BBQ and decided to try my hand at a party favorite: pita chips and hummus! Although I knew there would be healthy options at the party (salmon burgers, chicken, pop chips, chex mix), I'd been wanting to make this for awhile (and who doesn't love hummus and pita?). This took me about 20 minutes to whip together- it's really simple. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a pic of the fresh hummus, but here's what it looked like when I brought it home:
Homemade Garlic Pesto Hummus
Ingredients:
1 can organic chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp TJ's basil pesto
2 TBSP grapeseed oil (or any other oil- EVOO, canola, etc)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP tahini
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
Directions:
1. Drain and rinse chickpeas.
2. Combine ingredients in blender/food processor. Blend/pulse until desired consistency. You may have to stop a few times to scrape the sides of the blender. Serve with:
Garlic and Sea Salt Pita Chips (recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
4 medium sized pitas, sliced into triangles (I used TJ's Apocryphal Whole Wheat Pita)
5 TBSP grapeseed oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cut pitas into triangles (about 8 per pita)
3. Combine oil, garlic, and salt in small bowl.
4. Brush both sides of each pita triangle with oil mixture.
5. Spread triangles on baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
6. Bake at 375F for 10-12 mins. Watch it- they burn easily!
7. Crunch away!
I also included carrots on the tray for some veggie crunch.
What about you? Do you have rules for party foods or do you eat whatever's on the table? Do you have a game plan for the fall holidays?
Here's to leaving this season wearing the same jean size,
-Allie ;-)