Oh my!

Roasted Beets are such a treat for me. While I love traditional red beets, when I find the golden variety I feel special.

Their sweet earthy flavor makes them the perfect salad topper, veggie burger binder, savory soup enhancer, and super creamy dip ingredient.

This Hummus is packed with vitamins and nutrients and will satisfy your most intense snack attacks.

To prepare the beets, simply roast them drizzled in olive oil and wrapped in foil for 45 minutes!

There are so many variations of hummus, each with its own personality and flavor profile, all pretty easy to prepare.

One of my favorites is sweet potato hummus, but I’ve always loved a good classic hummus as well.

Most of our grazing boards also include Hummus of one variety or another!

Roasted Golden Beet Hummus is such a lovely light snack, wonderful for Summer Thyme (pairs nicely with Summer Thyme Sangria too).

Are there recipes that remind you of a favorite vacation that you’d like to see us recreate? I’d love for you to comment below. Your feedback is so important to me (and keeps the recipe love fresh).

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Roasted Golden Beet Hummus

Roasted Golden Beet Hummus is packed with vitamins and nutrients and will satisfy your most intense snack attacks.

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the Beets

• 3 medium beets peeled and quartered
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt & pepper

For the Hummus

• 3 medium roasted beets
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lemon juice only
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper or more to taste

Instructions

For the Beets

• Preheat oven to 400° F. Place quartered beets on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes or until beets are tender when poked with a fork. Allow to cool to room temperature or refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Hummus

• Cut one beet quarter into small cubes and reserve. Place reamaining roasted beets and all balance of ingredients into a food processor or high powered blender. Blend until pureed. Can add a tablespoon or two of cold water if too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve in a bowl, sprinkled with beet cubes. Serve with favorite veggie sticks or crackers. Wonderful as a sandwich spread.

The post Roasted Golden Beet Hummus appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Trust me on this one. You do not have to slave in the kitchen, or order take-out, to be able to enjoy this creamy dreamy eggplant dip at home.

After oven roasting the eggplant, this recipe requires less than 10 minutes of hands on time.

Hand me a pita…I’m going in!

The Process

• Choose a couple nice sized eggplant (about 3 pounds total)
• Slice them in half and brush the cut side with olive oil
• Place cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast at 450 degrees F. for about 45 minutes or until the eggplant are very soft to the touch and the skins start to wrinkle
• Once roasted, allow to cool
• Then gently scrape the flesh out of the eggplant skins (discarding the thin charred layer) into a mesh strainer for a few minutes to allow any excess liquid to drain off
• Squeeze in 3-4 roasted garlic cloves.

Since I had a hot oven and a recipe that calls for garlic, I oven roasted a head of garlic as well.

• Add Tahini (sesame seed paste), extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and chopped fresh parsley
• Season with cumin and salt and whisk with a fork until well combined
• Adjust seasoning to taste and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, chopped parsley and smoked paprika

How to Serve

On a side note, there are some food pictures that benefit greatly from having a hand model. It’s akin to the food videos that end with the cook taking a bite and telling us how delicious it tastes.

Baba Ghanoush is beautiful on the inside but she’s not the easiest to make look sexy in a picture.

There were no objections from this volunteer (my husband) when I made my request. And capturing his expression says this dip is creamy dreamy delicious!

The key to making this recipe “Easy” is using the oven roasting method vs. fire roasting on a grill or under the broiler.

Been there done that and in my opinion these results are equally delicious, perhaps less smoky but the smoked paprika brings that to the dip.

We incorporated our Easy Baba Ghanoush into a Levantine Mezze Platter that we shared with some close friends.

Our board included many of our favorite middle eastern dishes whose flavor profiles all play so nicely together.

We had Tabbouleh, Hummus, Falafel, Marinated Olives with Feta, Kofta Kebabs, Jerusalem Salad….

It was a heaven on a platter.

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Easy Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush is a wonderful middle eastern eggplant dip that's rich flavor and creamy texture will delight your taste buds.

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Finish Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 3 pounds eggplant (about 2 medium-large) roasted
• 1 head garlic roasted
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for brushing and drizzle
• 1 lemon juiced (about 2 Tablespoons)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• chopped fresh parsley to garnish
• smoked paprika to garnish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut eggplant in half, brush cut sides with a little olive oil, place cut side down on prepared pan. Trim 1/4" off top of garlic, place on a piece of tin foil and drizzle with a little olive oil. Seal the foil and place on pan with eggplant. Roast in oven for 45 minutes or until eggplant is soft to the touch and the skins have wrinkled. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Once cooled, gently scrape the flesh out of the eggplant skins (discarding the thin charred layer) into a mesh strainer for a few minutes to allow any excess liquid to drain off. Squeeze in 3-4 roasted garlic cloves. Transfer to a bowl and using a fork, whip the mixture breaking up the eggplant. Add in remaining ingredients and whisk with a fork until smooth. To serve, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of smoked paprika.

The post Easy Baba Ghanoush appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Hands down this Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus has become my go-to snack. It’s the right mix of savory-slightly sweet that when paired with crispy chips or veggie sticks I dare say is the perfect snack!

For fun I looked up the definition of “snack” online.

snack /snak/ noun
Not surprising:
1. a small amount of food eaten between meals.
“not many people make it through to the evening meal without a snack”

Unexpected and rather humorous:
2. a sexually attractive person.
“it’s clear from the pics that her new husband is a total snack”

Back to the Hummus :) Every time we bake sweet potatoes I throw a couple extra in the oven to have on hand when a hummus craving kicks in. Besides being my favorite healthy snack it makes a really nice “just because” gift for a friend.

The ingredients are pretty straight forward. Cooked sweet potato, tahini, lemon juice, fresh garlic, olive oil and a generous sprinkle of my new favorite seasoning Braai South African Spice Blend.

Smoked paprika, dried basil, dried minced garlic, and sea salt bring a warm deep flavor nicely balanced by the creamy sweet potato.

Have you tried these Sweet Potato Corn Chips?? They are a supreme sidekick for this hummus. Super crispy but in a light and airy sort of way. Simple Truth Organic is a Kroger Supermarket brand.

Whip up a batch of Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus and let me know what you think! Enjoy!!

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Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus

Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus is the right mix of savory-slightly sweet that when paired with crispy chips or veggie sticks I dare say it's the perfect snack!

Course Snack

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1 pound cooked sweet potato typically one large
• 3 Tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic rough chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon Braai Seasoning or more to taste
• 1/4 cup olive oil or more for desired consistency

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Puree, adding additional olive oil as needed to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve with favorite chips or veggie sticks.

The post Smoky Sweet Potato Hummus {my go-to snack} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Shelby sent me a text picture of a tub of Thai Coconut Curry Hummus.  Oh YES!! How brilliant!  Hummus is the perfect vehicle for flavor creativity.  I was in the kitchen the next day coming up with my own version.  After the rave reviews it received from my taste testers (in this case my work family) I decided to share it with you.

I incorporated the coconut flavor in layers.  To the garbanzo beans I added coconut milk, shredded coconut, tahini, sriracha, garlic, shallot, lime, and coconut oil.

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Thai Coconut Curry Hummus

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 2 cans organic garbanzo beans drained & rinsed
• 2 Tbl. tahini
• 1 Tbl. sriracha hot sauce
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 small shallot
• 2 Tbl. shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• juice of one lime
• zest of one lime reserved for garnish
• 1/ – 1/3 cup coconut oil warmed until liquid

Instructions

• In the bowl of a food processor or blender add all ingredients except lime zest and coconut oil. Pulse or process until blended.
• With processor running drizzle in coconut oil until desired consistency is reached. Continue to blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust salt to taste. Garnish with lime zest.
• Store in refrigerator. Hummus will be very firm when chilled. Warm slightly to serve

The post Thai Coconut Curry Hummus appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Eggplant was the abundant ‘on sale’ item in the fridge today.  I had bought two varieties at the Farmers’ Market but had yet to come up with a plan.

While fresh picked eggplant is one of the most beautiful fruits of the garden, once cooked….is not always as good looking.  I did a quick Internet search for ‘pretty images’ of eggplant recipes and came across several for Baba Ghanoush.  I’d heard of it, maybe even enjoyed it in a restaurant, but certainly had not made it from scratch.  I decided to try the recipe by The Pioneer Woman and only adjusted it slightly to taste as she suggested.

The star ingredient is obviously the eggplant and the key to making her a headliner is roasting her whole.  The choice was the grill or under the broiler, we went with the broiler.  Most important step:  take a fork and prick the skin of each eggplant at least 10 times on both sides.  This allows the steam to escape while it’s cooking.  Roast on high about 4-6″ from broiler.  This where we underestimated the patience and length of time it would take to complete this dish.  Baba Ghanoush for our appetizer….nope, more like late dinner.  Plan on an hour at least….but know it is worth every minute!  So before we even talk about the other ingredients, get these babies under the broiler.

Ingredients…. Eggplant, Tahini (sesame paste found in a jar in the International isle of the super market), minced garlic, lemon juice, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, fresh chopped parsley, dash of cumin, sea salt to taste.

At first I checked on the eggplants about every 2-3 minutes, turning them over with thongs each time.  Note:  I have never put something under the broiler that didn’t go from zero to 60 in 10 seconds flat and I know you know what I’m talking about.  Apparently the skin of an eggplant can withstand some heat because it took quite a while before any bubbling black skin appeared.  Eventually I got up the courage to leave them unchecked for 5-7 minutes at a time, again turning them at each check point. Even when they seemed “done enough” I remembered the advice of Pioneer Woman and let them go another round.  You want them completely charred.

Once there, remove them from the oven, let cool slightly before going in.  To remove the roasted eggplant buttery goodness cut them in half and scoop out insides with a spoon.  Discard skins.  Put eggplant flesh in a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Combine with all other ingredients until well blended and season with salt to taste.  Don’t be afraid of the salt, we found it took a good bit to bring all the flavors together.  Serve with pita bread or chips.  If you like Hummus you will love this Mediterranean dip.  Next time I’ll just make it ahead.

The incredible flavors of this dish made it a must-post, however apologizies for the barely ‘pretty’ picture of the end result.  By the time the roasting was complete we had lost our natural light and consumed several cocktails.  Making Baba Ghanoush the perfect dinner!!

The post Baba Ghanoush {Eggplant Dip} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.