I was deliberating over which dip to buy when an older lady asked for assistance.
'Would you mind helping me?' she asked. 'Of course not, how can I help?'
She'd forgotten her glasses and wanted to make sure she was buying the avocado dip with the highest percentage of avocado so asked me to read them all out to her. At first I thought she was a little bit nutty. Surely avocado dip has a fair bit of avo in it? I was wrong!
The highest percentage I could find was 35%! Just one third of the 'avocado' dip was made up of avocado. Isn't that terrible? It wasn't so bad for the chickpea content in the hommus but it wasn't great. From then on I've made my own hommus and my most-eaten dip is hommus mixed with olive tapenade.
In my adventures delving into Paleo recipes, I came across a dip that claimed to have the consistency of hommus with not a chickpea in sight. Instead, the base was simply pureed zucchinis. Like the carrot dip, I was dubious. How could pureed zucchini possibly taste any good?
I made up my usual hommus just the way I normally did but in place of the chick-peas I used raw, peeled zucchini. I added some Kalamata olives to make by zucchini and olive hommus.
Well, I was seriously surprised. The result, although not entirely visually appealing with it's slight grey tinge, was a creamy, rich and very flavoursome dip that tasted just like olive hommus. The only difference was that it was not quite as thick as regular hommus.
The best part is how easy it is. Are you ready? Don't blink or it will all be over. Throw it all in the blender, blitz, serve. Easy isn't it? It doesn't keep all that long in the fridge (gets a bit of a tang after 3 or so days) but as it's so easy to make you could whip it up on demand. Enjoy!
What about you. Which dips do you buy? Have you ever checked the percentage of the main ingredient?
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups 1 ½ med approx zucchinis, peeled and chopped into chunks
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 cloves garlic
- pinch of sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- 3 tablespoon chopped pitted kalamata olives
Instructions
- Throw everything in the blender and process until smooth.
- Chill before serving.
JJ - 84thand3rd says
Great dip idea and loving the styling on such a difficult colour. I've been playing with paleo a bit as well ;) I never buy pre-made dips but do read the ingredients every so often out of interest... horrifying!
Claire says
It is rather horrifying JJ! Paleo has some merit I think. At the very least I like that most of the recipes are packed full of good stuff!
Sarah says
SNACK TIME! Yummmmm, all the goodness of olives and made from zucchini? I'm on board.
The Café Sucré Farine says
Hello hummus sister! I had to laugh about your lady in the grocery store. I got some fabulous cookies recently - they're called Quinoa Cranberry cookies, I was checking the label, trying to figure out how I could reproduce them when I noticed that the quinoa was listed just above the salt. I'm not sure if they do it same in Australia but here in the States, the ingredients are list according to how much of each the product contains. So with the hummus being listed just before the salt, it means that there is a minuscule amount of quinoa in the cookies! Ha!! I Anyways, love your hummus, such an interesting idea with the zucchini!
Claire says
Oh no that's terrible. Yep same thing here! Funny how they can even call them quinoa cookies!
Stephanie @ henry happened says
I can't wait for summer to try this! We have zucchini overload around here and I'm never sure what to do with them. Love the olive addition.
Claire says
You'll have to let me know what you think Stephanie!
Hotly Spiced says
I've read the percentages of avocado in the dips at the supermarket and it really is horrifying. Most of them hover at around 10%. What gorgeous presentation of your dips, Claire xx
Claire says
10% isn't that disgusting?! Thanks Charlie! x
Jess says
I'm so intrigued - zucchini and olives? Sounds delicious, but I never would have thought of it. And how terrible about the avocado dip!? Oh my goodness - I must always remember to read the ingredients on those things - boo to the fakey stuff.
Claire says
Yes boo to the fake stuff. How gross! It's an interesting combo isn't it?
Jennifer (Delicieux) says
What an interesting recipe. I love hommus and could eat it by the bowlful. I've been seeing a lot of paleo recipes lately. It seems to be the latest craze doesn't it?
As for dips, I never buy dips. I always make them. It's so much cheaper and so easy too.
Claire says
It does indeed Jennifer. I thought I'd better offer a few Paleo-approved recipes! It's so much cheaper to make them isn't it especially if you want quality.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
I always check percentages if I buy something-it's crazy how little of the main ingredient is in some commercial products! :)
Claire says
I always check now but I never used to. I had too much faith obviously!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
I love hommus, this sounds like a great snack!
Claire says
It's perfect with some rice crackers Laura.