Boo-rific Pumpkin Hummus!

Tomorrow, I am going to carve pumpkins with friends who have a 20 month old.  This is my little buddy's first Halloween where he understands that everyone dresses up in cool costumes, there are "punkins" on everyone's front porch and the houses in the neighborhood are decorated with scary but fun witches, skeletons and cobwebs.  Wait until he goes trick-or-treating and finds out he can collect candy from his neighbors!

I want to bring over a snack to eat while we are carving (to offset the candy and sugary snacks he will likely get on Sunday!).  I decided to make something I know he really likes... hummus! To make it more festive, I made a pumpkin hummus recommended by the fabulous blog: Cooking with Trader Joe's.  I used cookie cutters to cut TJ's Olive Oil Wheat wraps into pumpkins and bat shapes.  I then sprayed them with olive oil spray and sprinkled a little salt and cumin on them for flavor and color and baked them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 8-10 minutes (keep an eye on them!).  What a tasty and healthy treat!

Pumpkin Hummus
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 can pumpkin puree (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp crushed garlic (1 clove or 1 cube frozen garlic)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sesame tahini paste (in refrigerated section next to premade hummus)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon


1.  Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until hummus is smooth.  If mixture is too thick, add water, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.
2. Taste and adjust for seasonings.
3. For best flavor, store in fridge for a few hours before serving.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Serves: 8
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I used a little more tahini, salt and cumin than the recipe calls for.  This seemed to give it the flavor I was looking for.  I sprinkled a little more cumin and dripped a tiny bit of olive oil on top.  What do you think?

For those of you who are worried about making hummus "from scratch," I will tell you it is pretty simple - especially if you have a food processor.  But, if you prefer, you could take CWTJ's advice and use pre-made plain hummus and mix in pumpkin and spices!  You can also purchase bagged pita chips to make life a little easier.

Cooking With Trader Joe's also lists some other creative and fun recipes for you to try, using mostly Trader Joe's ingredients. I highly recommend checking out their website!

Are you steering away from the sweets this Halloween? Have any healthy recipes to share?  Please feel free to do so here!

Chow for now!  :)