By Maggie Kapustin

Hummus Recipe – Arugula Salad with Honey Balsamic and Lemon Garlic Edamame Hummus

For all of you who are looking for healthier food preparations and ideas at home, this Hummus Recipe is for you. It all started with an informative email from Pritikin Longevity Center+Spa, sharing with our Hedonist Shedonist folks that September is Fruit and Veggies- More Matters Month. Who knew?! What a perfect time to experiment in our own kitchens with recipes that are both delicious and good for us.

Chef Anthony Stewart, of Pritikin, has developed some creative and delectable recipes that balance the sweetness of fruit with the heartiness of vegetables. Some of his best include an asparagus orange salad that is tossed in a citrus red wine vinaigrette and a pineapple hummus recipe that is sure to delight our taste buds with its savory sweetness. Since I love to experiment with recipes I find, I couldn’t think of a better time to make my own version of these two, but with a twist. Bearing this in mind, I needed to think of unique variations to these outstanding recipes that I could also make at home and that would add to Chef Stewart’s list rather than try to compete and, most likely fail. After all, most of us are not chefs; we’re home cooks.

My compromise is that you must try Chef Stewart’s salad and hummus recipe, then I encourage you to try mine as well. They share the basic idea that combining fruits and vegetables in interesting ways can give your immune system a boost and a can be a new way to enjoy some classics.

In my twist to Chef Stewart’s salad, I combined the sensuous texture and sweetness of beets—my very favorite root vegetable—with the tang of grapefruit and the bite of arugula to create a salad that is filled with color, taste and texture variations, and sublimely intense flavors in every bite. The added touch of goat cheese, pistachios, and onion crisps lend an air of decadence to take this salad from a side to a main dish.

The next recipe that especially piqued my interest as both a connoisseur and a home cook was Chef Stewart’s pineapple hummus recipe. Of course, hummus is delicious and trendy in our American foodie culture, but it’s also a timeless staple in the Middle East.  I like the idea of combining a tropical fruit with chickpeas, but instead, I chose to try a bean that totally transformed the idea of classic hummus. I made a Lemon Garlic Edamame “Hummus”, substituting the usual garbanzo beans for edamame. It was a nice change, for sure.

I know you’ll want to try these—along with Chef Andrew’s Pritikin recipes—in your own kitchen soon; you’ll be glad you did. Oh, and happy Fruit and Veggies Month!

As an aside, since we’re on the topic of healthy eating and quality ingredients, I highly recommend Olea Olive Oil. It’s the only olive oil I use, and I have never tasted such perfection. To learn more, check out my recent blog post in which I discuss this high quality and superb product.

Lemon Garlic Edamame Hummus Recipe

Ingredients:

1 large garlic bulb

1 tbs. olive oil plus 1/8  cup  (Olea)

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup ricotta cheese

4 tbs. chopped FRESH basil

2 tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 cups cooked and shelled edamame beans

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut off pointed end of garlic bulb, brush with 1 tbs. olive oil and place in foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from foil and squeeze cloves into food processor. Add edamame and pulse until a smooth paste forms, scraping down sides of processor as needed. Add lemon juice and zest, basil, sour cream, and ricotta cheese. Process until smooth. Add rest of olive oil slowly into food processor chute while running until entire mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste to salt and pepper properly. Serve with raw veggies or bread.

Adapted from Southern Living recipe at this link.

Arugula Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Ingredients:

SALAD

4 cups washed baby arugula

½ red onion, sliced

½ cup pine nuts or pistachios, toasted*

½ cup fried onion straws (I used French’s)

4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

1 very large beet (or 2-3 small beets), roasted and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 small pink grapefruit, cut into wedges without white membrane

DRESSING

3 tbs. balsamic vinegar

½ olive oil

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbs. honey

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. plus salt to taste

Directions:

*To roast pine nuts, you can place them in a dry sauté pan on medium high heat. You must watch them carefully, as they burn quickly. Using dry roasted pistachios is an excellent substitute.

To make the vinaigrette, place the vinegar, ½ teaspoon of salt (you can always add more later to suit your taste), black pepper, and garlic in a mason jar. Use a fork to blend the ingredients. Add the Dijon mustard and mix again with a fork. Add the olive oil and honey. Close the lid and shake vigorously until all ingredients are combined. Mustard acts as an emulsifier, so there shouldn’t be lots of separation. Store at room temperature until ready to dress the greens.

To make the salad, in a large glass mixing bowl, toss the arugula in some of the vinaigrette, starting with a ¼ cup only. Toss well, noticing how quickly the dressing can coat the greens. Add more vinaigrette, if desired. How much dressing is up to you, but remember that salad can become over-saturated very quickly.

Place the greens on a large platter. Toss the beets in a small amount of the leftover vinaigrette, then save the rest for another time. Sprinkle beets and all remaining salad ingredients over the greens. Serve immediately.

Click Here to See my Fish N Grits Recipe