Cook's Illustrated's Hummus

I love hummus!  Here is the easy recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  We love this, Noah and I gave it a perfect 10 and Aaron and Owen gave it a 9.  Calories are around 40-50 calories a tablespoon depending on your tahini.  Great with pita chips, pitas, veggies, on sandwiches, anything!


1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic
1/4 c tahini
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c water
salt
cayenne pepper

Mix it together in a food processor.  Serve cold.

Pioneer Woman's Grilled Corn Dip

This wasn't a big hit around here, I liked it the best, but the cotija cheese was kind of off putting in this recipe for most of the family.  I changed it just a little, and I think it would be good for a big party, but it made sooooo much, and it had a funky smell.  Aaron gave it a 6, Owen gave it a 7, and Noah and I gave it an 8.  No calorie information because I couldn't figure out how many serving there were, it was so much food :).  Here's what I did:

1 can creamed corn
1 can corn
8 oz cream cheese
4 green onions, sliced
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz monterey jack cheese
4 oz cotija
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t paprika
dash of cayenne pepper
salt
juice of 1 lime
dash or 2 of tobasco

Mix everything together, then serve with chips.

Pioneer Woman's Black Eyed Pea Salsa

We tried this black eyed pea salsa and although good and easy, it was bland.  We found the recipe in the Pioneer Woman's latest cookbook, and it was fun to have black eyed peas for our New Year celebration.  The boys gave this an 8, and Aaron and I gave this a 7.  I followed the recipe exactly, and for 1/12 of the total the calories were 98.  We ate this with chips, and also as a salad the next day.  Here's what to do:

3 15 oz cans black eyed peas drained and rinsed
3 celery stalks, finely diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
1 c chopped clantro
salt
Juice of 1 lime
tortilla chips or serving.

Mix everything together and serve.