Zucchini Hummus

I am still eating raw, but I spend all day working in a kitchen, and with summer weather drawing me outside, my food preparation at home has been very minimalist. Mostly, I just eat an assortment of fruits and vegetables with no preparation required.

Every now and then, however, it's nice to have something different and, right now, I'm wholly obsessed with zucchini hummus. It does taste quite similar to chickpea hummus, but that doesn't even matter—I'm tempted to re-name it Zucchini Dip, because it deserves to exist without comparison. I mostly use it for dipping other vegetables, but it's a wonderful salad dressing as well.

I wish I could say I made this using my own zucchini, but, unfortunately, I will have none of my own this year, as every single zucchini sprout I had was eaten by the swarm of earwigs that has been terrorizing my garden all season.

Zucchini Hummus
(adapted from Raw on $10)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium zucchini, peeled and chopped*
• 115 grams tahini (raw or roasted)
• 1 medium sized clove garlic, finely chopped
• juice of 1 medium sized lemon
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• fine sea salt, to taste

*I have tried making this dip without peeling the zucchini and found I could not get as smooth a texture as when it was peeled. Otherwise, it was just as delicious.

Instructions:

1. Puree zucchini in a blender or food processor, and poor into a fine sieve, cheesecloth, or some other finely meshed straining device, to strain excess water.

2. Return zucchini to processor/blender and add remaining ingredients. Process/blend until smooth, or to desired consistency.

Note: Either a food processor or blender would work, but a blender will yield a smoother texture. I start off with my food processor until it's as smooth as that machine will get it, then I switch it over to a blender to get the consistency shown in the pictures.

The first of my tomatoes are ripening!