Carrot Hummus

There's been a ton of cute Easter recipes floating around the internet lately, but they're mostly all for desserts. Of course there's nothing wrong with that, and I even contributed to the pile of nest/basket-themed Easter dessert recipes myself with these mini Easter basket lemon mousse tarts. But when I came across an idea on Pinterest for baby carrots planted in hummus pots, I thought it was so refreshing to see a healthy (but still adorable) Easter recipe!

I had no intention of copying the idea myself until I realized that they would give me the perfect excuse to make a carrot hummus, which I'd been wanting to try for a while. Because what's better than carrots planted in regular hummus? Carrots planted in carrot hummus, of course!

I found a recipe for carrot hummus on Pip & Ebby and only made a few slight changes to suit my tastes. Slicing and boiling the carrots seemed to be the fastest and easiest method to cook them before adding them to the hummus, but I saw other recipes where the carrots were roasted instead, which would probably give them a deeper flavour. I just didn't feel like waiting that long, so choose your cooking method depending on your own preferences!

Once the carrots are cooked, all that's left to do is blend them up with the standard hummus ingredients and season, season, season! As long as you keep tasting as you make hummus, I think it's pretty impossible to ever end up with an end product that you don't like. I kept mine pretty simple, but I could imagine lots of different spins on the recipe that would add even more flavour: adding ginger and sesame oil for an Asian-inspired hummus; adding cayenne, cinnamon, and more cumin for a Moroccan-inspired hummus; or adding cardamom and more honey for a slightly sweeter hummus - be creative!

To serve the hummus, I spread it in a wide, shallow bowl, and "planted" little sprigs of carrot greens in rows to look like a carrot patch. At first I didn't attach baby carrots to the carrot tops because I didn't want to copy the original idea exactly, but halfway through photographing the dish I added them in just to see what it would look like, and it looked a million times better! If you're serving this hummus for Easter or any other spring gathering, I'd highly recommend checking out Pottery Barn Kids to get the instructions on how to plant baby carrots in the hummus!

I think this would make a great appetizer for an Easter gathering, but I've been enjoying eating it on my own all week as a dip for carrots and crackers - it's really tasty! I had planned on trying to save some for our Easter gathering on Sunday, but there won't be any left by then so I might have to make another batch!

Hope you all have a great Easter, Passover, or just enjoy the long weekend!

Carrot Hummus

Recipe adapted from Pip & Ebby, Carrots in hummus idea inspired by Pottery Barn Kids

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup sliced carrots
1 19-oz can chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Generous pinches of salt and pepper (to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Place chopped carrots in a large saucepan and cover in water. Bring to a boil, cover, and let cook 5-8 minutes, until carrots are tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.

Place all ingredients except for the olive oil in the large bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly add olive oil through the feed tube while processing.

Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking – I added more lemon juice and salt, but if you wish it to be sweeter you could add more honey, or for more spice, try increasing the cumin and adding some cayenne!