Happy Raw Wednesday!
I hope you are all having wonderful days so far, and that you’ll have some raw meals to share with me.
I dedicate this post to my friend Heather, who is a hummus fiend, though in truth she is not the only one! Hummus is much adored in the foodie community, and with good reason: it’s creamy, delicious, versatile, and high in protein and fiber.
Unfortunately, hummus isn’t raw. And in spite of how tasty it is, I’m afraid that hummus isn’t an ideal food for those of you with sensitive digestive systems. It’s no great secret that many of us don’t have the enzymes to properly digest beans, and that the phytates (anti-nutrients) and sugars (oligosaccharides) in beans are tough on our bellies. This is why we have Beano.
There’s an additional reason, though, that beans are hard to digest. If you’ve read my Digestive Health and Cleansing 101 Tab, you know that I recommend food combining, wherein you avoid eating starches and proteins together. Beans are both starch and protein, which makes them an inherent food combining exception. Now, not all of you follow food combining or need to. But if you’re like me, and you’re mindful of a sensitive belly, it may be best for you to find a hummus that won’t irritate your stomachs as much as chickpea hummus might. And this is where my raw zucchini hummus comes in.
I’ve been on a quest for the perfect raw hummus for a while. Most recipes call for sprouted chickpeas, which are time consuming and don’t solve the gas issue. Others call for nuts, and while I love making nut pates, some of these recipes end up feeling a bit heavier and more dense than I like my hummus to be.
Which is why it’s ingenious that someone decided to use zucchini as the hummus base. This yields a slightly thinner and greener hummus than the norm, but it’s easy to thicken with tahini and sesame seeds. There are many versions of zucchini hummus floating around: Ani Phyo includes one in her book, and there are several online. The following is my favorite. It is, in my mind, the perfect raw hummus: all of the flavors of regular hummus, with none of the bloating. Best of all, it’s 100% raw.
I was inspired by this recipe, and I found that the olive oil and zucchini yielded a mix that was too thin to be hummus: it was tasty, but more akin to a tahini dressing. So I thickened it up with some raw sesame seeds in addition to the tahini, and voila: an amazingly rich, creamy, and tasty blend. Here’s the recipe:
Raw Zucchini Hummus (yields over 3 cups; you can easily cut this recipe in half)
2 zucchini, chopped
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 cup raw tahini (the Artisana brand is nice; substitute regular tahini if you need to)
4 tbsp olive oil
½ cup raw sesame seeds
Vitamix instructions:
Put all ingredients in your Vitamix and blend to a rich perfection!
Food processor instructions:
Same as above. You may have a hard time blending the sesame seeds, so I recommend soaking them for a few hours first, halving the recipe, and stopping frequently to scape the bowl. You can also omit the seeds entirely, but in that case I also recommend omitting the olive oil to keep a thick consistency.
I could honestly have eaten a bowl of this stuff last night along with some crudités, but since I insist on making greens the centerpiece of as many meals as I can, I enjoyed the hummus scooped into endive leaves and served alongside a big salad of dark greens, tomatos, endive, and fresh asparagus. It was delicious.
And now, without further ado, I have a winner to announce!
The winner of last week’s Raw Wednesday Giveaway—a copy of Ani Phyo’s dessert book—is #125: Kim! Kim’s response to the question of what she wanted to make raw was:
“I really need this raw cookbook since I don’t know how to make anything raw except my currently favorite snack which is Raw Donut Holes. Yum!”
Now you’ll have lots of inspiration, Kim! Please email me at gena@choosingraw.com to give me your mailing address.
OK guys: it’s your turn! Tell me all about your Raw Wednesday!
xo
oh my! This looks fab, I have all the ingredients on hand but the sesame seeds, I may have to try I love hummus.
My raw Wednesday is going great. I had a smoothie for breakfast (Coconut water, blueberries, spinach, banana and frozen mango) and then a wrap (peppers, avocado, sprouts, and cucumber in a Ezekiel wrap) I have some carrots and sliced watermelon for later on in the day. I plan on having some raw sauerkraut for dinner not sure what will accompany it.
Nice day so far, Amber!
yum yum yum raw hummus!
My Raw eats are lame today. I’m fighting a cold that is kicking my butt, and my attempt at mind control to rid myself of it isn’t working according to plan! I had a couple of Abbie’s Raw snickers this morning, before I fought my way to the gym. My appetite isn’t up to snuff, so dinner is going to be a small salad with dandelion, arugala, and whatever else needs to be used before the next grocery run. I just had a bit of raw almond butter on a carrot. If any munchies settle in, the plan is more almond butter on raw cinnamon crackers. I’m hoping for something a little more impressive next week!
Your hummus looks great. I tried that over the weekend, and because it was so loose, I used it as dressing on a sprout salad! It worked, but it wasn’t the hummus that I had in mind. I’ll have to give your recipe a shot.
Sorry about the cold, Nancy
Drink lots of juice and get lots of rest!
I wish I had stocked up on these ingredients before today! Oh well, there is another raw wednesday next week to look forward to =)
Oooooh, I am looking forward to trying this recipe! I have made my own tahini before, and at first I tried using my food processor, but it failed miserably at crushing the sesame seeds. I then tried my non-VitaMix blender and it worked perfectly. Now I have a new food processor, so I’ll try that first, but if not I know my blender will do the trick. I so enjoy your recipes, thanks!
Glad you like the looks of it!
Looks amazing! I just made hummus for the first time this week - the bean kind though… It was tasty, and I don’t know what took me so long to do it! I love the zucchini base of yours - definitely unique!
It was soooo good, Ashley!
Mmm, That hummus looks great. I love hummus too! It’s so delicious!
I’ve been reading about this raw food challenge and now I know where it came from!
Your blog looks great.
I’m a huge fan of your blog, too, Erin! Thanks!
I made zucchini hummus once and LOVED it…I’ve never tried sprouting chickpeas for hummus, but since the zucchini kind was so easy and tasty, I doubt I’ll ever need to try the raw chickpea variety.
Ah yes, hummus is something I eat on an almost daily basis! Your raw version sounds delicious and I love zucchini so I cannot wait to try!
I can’t wait to hear what you think!
mmmm I love zucchini based hummus! Endive leaves are the most excellent for any type of dip! It’s a scoop made by nature!
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Oh gosh! I keep forgetting to pick up endive. That salad is a beautiful reminder
OK, so I just left your blog open for like 2 hours.
I helped son make the raspberry chocolate ganache cake from Ani Phy’s dessert book for our dessert later. Then I made your zuke hummus.
For lunch I had a sandwich made out of dehydrator bread, avocado, and a BIG pile of alfalfa sprouts.
For dinner I had a wrap made with your hummus, baby spinach, and more sprouts. It was really good.
Then, I had an apple for a couple of snacks today.
Thanks so much. Have a great evening.
Terrific, Stacie! So glad you enjoyed it all
Interesting recipe! I never would have thought to make hummus with zucchini!
Thanks so much for the hummus recipe, Gena. I love hummus and can’t wait to try this out! Have you ever tried making hummus with raw chick peas? I haven’t but I think they taste good raw so I might experiment.
My raw snack today was some fruit (watermelon and cherries). And for dinner I’ll be having a salad with lots of veggies (carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, tomato….).
Hey Sharon,
As I said in my post, I don’t digest beans well (and don’t love the taste of sprouted beans to boot) so this suits my tastebuds a bit better!
Gena
Hey Gena, What I was thinking of was the raw garbanzo (they’re green and are usually sold still in the pod) not sprouted ones. They taste a bit different than the “regular” bean but I suppose if you don’t like the taste of those you wouldn’t like the raw one either
Thanks again for this recipe!
This recipe looks delicious. I am totally going to take down the recipe and try it sometime soon.
Great point about food combining and the fact that beans are both a protein and starch. Beans often do a number on my tummy.
What a wonderful idea to use zucchini in the hummus! I’m not currently a raw foodist, but I’ve been following your blog for about a month now and I’m really enjoying new raw ideas - I figure the more raw I can incorporate, the better, right?
Have a great night!
Thanks for reading, Katherine!
thiis sounds delicious! I keep forgetting about raw wednesday.. and my day to day was insane and not even close to healthy. I fail.
Not a failure! Just keep trying. There’s another raw Wednesday next week, my dear!
Too bad that part of hummus that disagrees with me is the sesame seeds… I wonder if I could find an alternative because the zucchini idea is so intriguing. This would have been a good switch up for raw Wed. (which was tasty and greens filled, anyway)!
Love this recipe. I’m a big hummus fan!
Today’s raw snack was a Cinnamon Roll Larabar and today’s meal was a bakery bought organic garden lettuce salad that I stripped down (leaving hazelnuts) and added apples and carrots to. Pictures on my blog post today.
I promise that next Wednesday will be way more exciting!!
That hummus looks great! The raw chickpea hummus I made the other week was meh, so I’m excited to try out a better hummus recipe!
Today I made a dressing with tahini, lemon juice, and raw garlic (ugh stinking garlic made my breath terrible!) with sprouted lentils and zucchini. I loved the dressing (next time I won’t put in garlic) and the sprouted lentils. Here is my post about it:
http://kitchenpanda.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/i-need-to-stop-spending-so-much-money/
Sorry it wasn’t a more successful meal, Christine! Maybe next week.
I never would have thought you could make hummus without chickpeas. This looks creamy and delicious!
It was so good, Dori!!
I love hummus but I haven’t had it in awhile because it’s not raw. I haven’t made the raw version yet, I am scared it’s not going to live up to “real” hummus! I need to conquer my fear!
Hey lovely!
So amazing to meet you!
You must try this recipe! I’m telling you, I am a total hummus snob and I LOVED it.
xoxo
Great meeting you as well! I brought Thomas and his friend those cookies and they were like, when is the next meeting? LOL!
Your friend Cassie is so nice as well, I really enjoyed talking to her (and YOU and Melissa and Heather!).
Hey! i am in the process of looking for a juicer and was wondering which one you have. I wanted to breville juice fountain elite, but the store I checked does not have it in stock. They only carry the juice fountain plus but could order the elite for me. (I have a 20% off coupon!) I think yours is the plus. Do you think it’s just as good as the elite? I don’t know much about these, so I’m not sure if the elite is worth two times as much as the plus! Thanks =)
Hi Heather!
I have the plus, not the elite. It has honestly been more than sufficient for my lifestyle, and I highly recommend it! I wouldn’t bother with the plus unless you’ve really got your heart set on it.
xo
That looks so great! I love hummus.
My raw Wednesday was good - I had Ani’s raw tacos and chia pudding. Both were tasty. The tacos need some tweaking, but I’ll try them again! Here’s the link to my post: http://jesstyler.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/raw-wednesday-3/
You have challenged my hummus preconceptions!I love the idea of hummus not made from chickpeas, though of course I have a not-so-secret love affair with Sabra. Your zucchini version sounds great!
It’s SO good Diana. Can’t wait to meet you tomorrow!
Gena,
Hey darlin! It’s so great to “see” your shining face this morning!
Oh goodness. HUMMUS! Yum yum. If you could put your raw genius to create a version of TJ’s eggplant hummus I might die and go to foodie heaven! I wonder how this would work with a little garlic and eggplant lovin… Is there a way to get rid of the eggplant’s bitterness without cooking it?
Have a great Thursday day girlie!
With Love,
Emily
Hey sweets! Same to you!
I will do my best to oblige you and come up with a great babaganoush!
xo
I love how artfully you arranged your plate. This post reminds me of one of my favorite stuff white people posts
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/10/27/112-hummus/
That hummus looks amazing! You have inspired me to try and participate in the raw wednesday challenge.
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[...] wanted to copy Gena, but I didn’t have endive so I used cabbage leaves to hold the hummus [...]
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[...] its mild flavor, zucchini works well in many raw food dishes, including a bean-free zucchini hummus and “noodle” dishes like zucchini marinara or zucchini alfredo with basil and cherry [...]
[...] Crudites with my raw zucchini hummus: [...]
[...] winner dinner! (and breakfast too!) By JB last night i made gena’s zucchini hummus, and it was nothing short of absolutely incredible. i followed her recipe exactly, except i left [...]
[...] salt, raw corn, grape tomatoes, sprinkle of black pepper, nutritional yeast, scoop of gena’s zucchini hummus -a 7 sprouted grain ezekiel english muffin drizzled with a teensy bit of olive oil, and sprinkled [...]
[...] made Gena’s raw hummus! I can’t believe this has no chickpeas in it, it’s soooo good! You really need to try [...]
Hi Gena,
I’ve tried four hummus recipes. Your Raw Zucchini Hummus is the one I will be making again and again. I read at rawfoodexplained.com that garlic and onion isn’t good for you and I’m pleased to be finding that you have delicious recipes that don’t include them.
Thank you for the recipe!
Karen
[...] tried making Gena’s Zucchini Hummus. I defiled it by subbing peanut butter for tahini because after the incident on Saturday, I [...]
Thanks for the recipe. I”m going to try this, hopefully, this week. We love hummus on our veggie wraps, but I”ve always made it with either garbanzo beans or soybeans, so it has been cooked. This looks like a great raw alternative.
Wow! This looks devine! Definitely making this next time I do humous.
Thank you so much for this recipe! This is the best raw hummus I have made. I tried a couple recipes using sprouted chickpeas and just wasn’t happy with the result. Your recipe rocks!
I’ve never tried sesame seeds, but I grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder and it works pretty well. I’m going to try this, it looks delish!
[...] but beans! I adore beans, but sometimes I do hear them getting bad reps for being an inherent food-combining faux-pas; however, this was remedied after I realized that I don’t even practice food combining anyway [...]
[...] raw zucchini hummus [...]
[...] adapted from Choosing Raw [...]
hey gena how long does this hummus keep for? thnx!
[...] are super-duper sensitive to miscombining. One is zucchini hummus, which I’ve blogged about here. This uses zucchini as a base and sesame seeds or tahini as flavoring. If you want the taste, [...]
I tried this recipe and it was so good! Seriously, it’s the best hummus I have ever tasted. Thanks for sharing this recipe! =]