Flax Crackers & Green Olive Hummus [Oil-Free, Vegan]

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Sometimes you just need a good salty, crunchy snack, but store bought crackers often contain questionable ingredients and preservatives. For the longest time, I put off making my own healthy crackers because I thought it would be impossible to make crackers without oil and flour, two ingredients which I avoid using often in my home cooking.

One day, I finally stopped doubting myself and experimented with making a flax and almond based cracker and to my surprise it turned out crunchy and delicious.

I haven't had to buy crackers from the store ever since!

My favorite way to enjoy these crackers lately is to dip them in hummus and lately my favorite hummus flavor has been roasted garlic and green olive.

The hummus is super simple to make and it blends up very easily. I get kind of frustrated when I make a hummus recipe which requires a lot of scraping down the sides of the blender and is so thick that the blades get stuck.

The trick for a good fluffy hummus, is to save some of the brine from the can of chickpeas and use that in the mixture to achieve a whipped texture. This also makes the blending process much easier and faster. 

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This recipe makes roughly 16 oz. of hummus which fits perfectly in a mason jar! The hummus will last for up to a week when stored in a sealed container in the fridge.

Beet Hummus Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms [Vegan, Oil-Free]

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Roasted portobello mushroom caps make a deliciously healthy alternative to the classic hummus and avocado on toast. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having hummus on some sliced whole grain bread, but it's a good idea to change things up every so often. Since I make a batch of hummus almost every week, after a few days of having it on toast, I find myself looking for other ways to enjoy it. This time I decided to try stuffing it in a roasted portobello mushroom and it was so tasty! 

My favorite hummus lately has been this vibrant pink beet hummus. The key to making the beets have sweet flavor rather than an earthy bitter flavor is to make sure to use well-cooked beets. Any way you choose to cook them is fine, as long as they are very soft and cooked all the way through. This hummus is so fluffy and easy to blend because we use some of the liquid from the can of chickpeas (aka aquafaba) which becomes really airy when blended making the hummus have a softer whipped texture. I also use a bit more tahini to balance out the flavor of the beets and make the hummus extra savory. 

This recipe takes only slightly more effort then having hummus on toast. The portobello mushrooms are wiped clean, coated in a simple marinade, and then roasted for 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the oven and stuff with hummus, then roast for another 10 minutes, remove from the oven and garnish with whichever toppings you like. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe! 

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I used boiled beets so the color of the hummus before it was baked was a light pink color which darkened to hot pink in the oven. If you use roasted beets, the color will be even more vibrant, and will turn dark red when roasted. 

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