Roasted Zucchini Hummus

It never fails — when I go visit my parents during the summer, my Mom always loads me up with some of her garden goodies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans and lots and lots of summer squash. The most recent trip home ended with my mom semi-coercing me into taking home about 25 pounds of zucchini. Yes…25 pounds. Her five overzealous squash plants are producing zucchini faster than rabbits multiplying in the spring. She and my Dad can’t eat enough zucchini and squash to keep up with the monstrous-sized plants. Thus pounds and pounds of zucchini have been pawned off on just about every family member and friend she can find.

Including me, obviously. On my travels back home, I glanced at the heaping pile of yellow squash, baby zucchini, and two ginormous 6-pound zucchini. What the heck was I going to do with all of this? There’s only so much squash that Dario and I can eat! I was in need of some serious creativity. Or some random people in search of free zucchini.

A few batches of zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, grilled zucchini for paninis, “fried’ zucchini and just plain old sautéed zucchini left me a little fed up. I mean, I was using the stuff left and right and somehow it felt as though I still had at least 10 squash to use. My creativity or, let’s say, patience was waning. But I refused to let these delicious summer veggies go to waste. My solution? Give it all to Dario’s co-workers!!! Ha ha! Well, just some of it. The leftovers I decided to roast up and turn into a unique and very tasty roasted zucchini hummus.

My idea for the hummus basically came from the thought that most veggies and other flavorings taste pretty darn good when pureed with creamy chickpeas. Really can’t go wrong with that! This particular hummus has a nice light zucchini flavor, not too intense. Nicely reminiscent of summer. A little lemon zest (featured in basically every hummus recipe of mine) really brightens up the creaminess of the beans and just intensifies the whole summer flavor. Additionally, you get a serving of veggies, protein and fiber — all in one delicious dip. How convenient is that?!


Roasted Zucchini Hummus

Recipe by Maria Tadic, RD

Ingredients
1 – 1/2 cup roughly chopped zucchini
1 1/2 cups chick peas
2 tbsp tahnini
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 clove of garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1/2-1/3 cup+ 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss zucchini in 2 tbsp of olive oil and roast for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a food processor add in the remaining ingredients except for the olive oil. Pulse a few times or until finely ground. Add in the roasted zucchini and pulse until thoroughly combined. Stop processor and scrap down the sides of the bowl.
  3. With processor running, add in the olive oil slowly. Stopping every few seconds to scrape down the sides of the bowl, taste for seasoning and watch for desired consistency.
  4. Serve room temperature with pita chips or sliced crudite. Hummus will stay fresh for up to five days in the refrigerator.

You tell me! What’s your favorite way to use zucchini? Have you ever grown zucchini? What is your favorite type of hummus?

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Maria Tadic, RD
Maria Tadic, RD, is a registered dietitian currently working in the field of Bariatric Surgery and Nutrition. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband. She's a foodie, runner, blogger and self proclaimed home chef! Read more from Maria on her blog, Bean A Foodie, or follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.