New Favorites: Cumin-Curry Hummus, Chips and Chile-Cilantro Salad Dressing

This last week was fabulous!  Spent the week with the BF and his family at the beach.  One thing I love about visiting his family (aside from how fun they are) is that his Mom always has a few cooking magazines around.  A couple new favorite recipes I found were: Cumin Curried Hummus and Chile-Cilantro Salad Dressing. I've also been wanting to make my own tortilla chips, so I did.

Cumin Curried Hummus 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds 

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 (15 1/2 oz) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) rinsed and drained 

1. Heat oil in a small pan.  Adding in garlic, cooking for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
2. Add curry and cumin.  Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly.
3. Put garlic mix, water and remaining ingredients in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

Tips & Tricks

• Use pre-chopped garlic to save time.  I used two tablespoons of pre-chopped garlic.
• You don't have to have a food processor- I used a blender.  Since I used a blender instead of a processor, I used ground cumin because I didn't want to chance the seeds not being fully ground up by the blender.
• If you like lemon, don't bother measuring the juice, just squeeze!  I used about a lemon and a half.

Baked Tortilla Chips

Easy, fast and tasty!

1 (12 oz) package of tortillas (can use corn or flour)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut each tortilla into 8 chip sized wedges and place on cookie sheet in single layer.
3. In mister, combine oil and lime juice.  Mix well and spray each tortilla wedge until slightly moist.  (I don't have a mister so I brushed it on)
4. Combine the cumin, chili powder and salt in small bowl.  Sprinkle on wedges. 
5. Bake for about 7 minutes.  Check, rotate pan and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the chips are crisp, but not too brown.

Chile-Cilantro Dressing

Bottle-o-Deliciousness 

2 tablespoons unsalted pumpkinseed kernels, toasted (optional)
2 tablespoons canola oil (or olive oil)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons crumbled feta
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilies, undrained
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1. Put the first 8 ingredients in the blender; process for 15 seconds.  Gradually add in cilantro and process until smooth.
2. Combine water and yogurt in a small bowl, stirring until smooth.  Add cilantro mixture; stir well.

Tips & Tricks

• You can swap out the plain yogurt for greek yogurt- gives it a little more tang.