Dips and Sauces

Super Creamy Hummus

Ingredients:

2 glasses of chickpeas incl. liquid (a 350 g, drained weight 220g)
200 g tahini
5 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon (depending on size)
1 - 2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
1 crushed teaspoon of cumin

Instructions:

Before I get to the preparation, here is some important information so that you have the best result. I would recommend getting tahini from a Turkish supermarket, it makes a huge difference. If you want your hummus to be extremely creamy, I recommend shelling EACH SINGLE chickpea. I looked at the clock today, it takes about 20 to 25 minutes. It's worth it, but I don't always do it. You also have to see how much liquid you take from the chickpeas, some canned chickpeas have a lot of liquid, then you should see step by step how the consistency develops.

Then for the preparation: Place chickpeas with liquid, tahini, lemon juice, spices and garlic in blender. Mix everything until you get a creamy consistency. Then mix in 5 tablespoons of olive oil again and season to taste. You can pretty much eat anything with it: vegetable sticks, falafel, in a wrap, etc. Have fun trying it out!

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

Recipe: 500 g fresh tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 zucchini grated
1 pepper
30 g maple syrup
150 to 200 ml coconut milk
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Coconut oil for frying
Spices: fresh basil leaves, 2 tsp. Italian herbs
1 tsp. oregano, pepper and salt to taste

Instructions:

Finely chop the onion and garlic and add to the pan with the coconut oil. Fry until translucent and then add the small chopped tomatoes. Also fry and deglaze with the maple syrup. Add small diced peppers and the grated zucchini, chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and spices. Mix everything and simmer for 20 minutes. Finally puree and enjoy!

A little tip: You can use all kinds of vegetables, e.g. E.g. celery, carrot. My kids really enjoy eating the sauce and the "hidden" veggies. Pureed, it just looks like a tomato sauce

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

60 g basil leaves
60g Parmesan
100 grams of olive oil
50 grams of pine nuts
1 flat tsp salt
1 clove of garlic

Instructions:

Roast 50 g pine nuts in a pan and leave to cool. Tear off and wash the basil leaves. Dry with kitchen paper and place in a tall container. Add the olive oil, the garlic clove, the salt and the pine nuts to the container and puree everything with the hand blender to a homogeneous mass. Then grate the Parmesan and add it to the bowl. Stir everything with a spoon and pour into a sterile jar. The parmesan is not pureed. You can also pack the pesto in a can and freeze it straight away and thaw it if necessary, which is how I like to do it. If you don't have much time to cook, this is very practical.

Vegan Mushroom Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

150 grams of mushrooms
400 ml coconut milk
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
200ml of water
2 tsp potato flour
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sweet paprika
salt and pepper
Some fresh parsley
oil for frying

Instructions:

Cut onions into small pieces. Squeeze garlic cloves. Clean the mushrooms and cut them in slices. Heat the oil in the pan and then sauté the onion and garlic, add the mushrooms and add all the spices except the salt. When the mushrooms are fried, deglaze with coconut milk. Then mix the 2 teaspoons of potato flour with 200 ml of water and use it to thicken the sauce. Now the sauce can be salted and seasoned. Sprinkle with the fresh parsley before serving.