If you’re wondering why I haven’t posted for the last couple of days, don’t worry, I haven’t given up already! I’ve been in Kingston visiting my brother and his girlfriend who just moved into a new apartment. I was a little worried about what I would eat while I was there, but it turned out great! My brother called ahead of time so I could let him know what groceries to buy, and I researched some great vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurants in the area. (Love the internet!) I packed some berries and vanilla soymilk for breakfasts and Steph bought some bagels and peanut butter. A full, complete breakfast! I also made a roasted red pepper hummus to bring along, as my brother loves hummus. It is so easy to make, it just takes a little patience if you want it really creamy and thick.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
The juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil (plus more as needed)
3 tbsp tahini (a sesame seed paste, usually found in the health food section of the grocery store)
1 tsp of cumin
Salt and pepper
1 roasted red bell pepper (I roasted my own, but you can buy them packed in oil)
2 garlic cloves (I roasted mine with the pepper, but you can add the cloves raw too)
Add half the chickpeas and half the oil into a blender. Pulse a couple times. The blender will constantly get stuck as it’s so thick, so push it around with a spatula every couple times you pulse. Continue doing this until the chickpeas are all coarsely smushed. Add the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil, the tahini, the cumin, the salt and pepper and the garlic. Pulse some more. This is where the patience part comes in. It’s so thick that the blender gets stuck every couple pulses, so move it around with a spatula. Don’t give up and buy your own hummus from the grocery store! This tastes sooo much better and you know exactly what and how much is going in. Use some more oil or even a little bit of water if you need to. When it gets good and creamy, add the slices of roasted red pepper. It will really help loosen it up. Blend everything together. Eat with veggies and pita. You can really add anything you feel like to the basic recipe minus the red pepper. My cousin Dean and I will be making one with jalapenos soon!
For dinner that night we went to a restaurant called Tango. It was delicious. It’s a tapas bar and we had a great local wine from the Sandbanks Estate Winery along with so much delicious food. It’s not a vegan restaurant but they have lots of vegan tapas. I had the “Spreads and Breads platter”, with hummus, guacamole, olive tapenade, bruschetta and black bean salsa, along with corn chips and baguette and pita. Their bruschetta was my favourite! Every else loved their meals and tapas too, although I couldn’t try most of it. Check them out if you’re ever in Kingston! Here’s the link to their site:
www.thetango.ca
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
The juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil (plus more as needed)
3 tbsp tahini (a sesame seed paste, usually found in the health food section of the grocery store)
1 tsp of cumin
Salt and pepper
1 roasted red bell pepper (I roasted my own, but you can buy them packed in oil)
2 garlic cloves (I roasted mine with the pepper, but you can add the cloves raw too)
Add half the chickpeas and half the oil into a blender. Pulse a couple times. The blender will constantly get stuck as it’s so thick, so push it around with a spatula every couple times you pulse. Continue doing this until the chickpeas are all coarsely smushed. Add the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil, the tahini, the cumin, the salt and pepper and the garlic. Pulse some more. This is where the patience part comes in. It’s so thick that the blender gets stuck every couple pulses, so move it around with a spatula. Don’t give up and buy your own hummus from the grocery store! This tastes sooo much better and you know exactly what and how much is going in. Use some more oil or even a little bit of water if you need to. When it gets good and creamy, add the slices of roasted red pepper. It will really help loosen it up. Blend everything together. Eat with veggies and pita. You can really add anything you feel like to the basic recipe minus the red pepper. My cousin Dean and I will be making one with jalapenos soon!
For dinner that night we went to a restaurant called Tango. It was delicious. It’s a tapas bar and we had a great local wine from the Sandbanks Estate Winery along with so much delicious food. It’s not a vegan restaurant but they have lots of vegan tapas. I had the “Spreads and Breads platter”, with hummus, guacamole, olive tapenade, bruschetta and black bean salsa, along with corn chips and baguette and pita. Their bruschetta was my favourite! Every else loved their meals and tapas too, although I couldn’t try most of it. Check them out if you’re ever in Kingston! Here’s the link to their site:
www.thetango.ca
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