Black Garlic And Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (Eat to Live Lunch Perfection)

My hummus cravings are strong. I have no problems with the garbanzo bean at all. It dresses up nicely, plays well with others and holds its own. This plate represents a nearly perfect Eat to Live lunch. And it was prepared in, what else, my new Vitamix blender (I heart the Vitamixer)! It shares the plate with a lot of cabbage--then a side of fruit. Always with the fruit in the ETL plan. I served my hummus and cabbage in a whole wheat wrap and layered in fresh spinach, two thin slices of avacado and a few thinly sliced carrots. The flavor comes from the hummus all the way.

I added two cloves of black garlic and two cloves of regular garlic. (Black garlic has an amazing flavor--if you can get your hands on some, do so immediately!) Two things Dr. Fuhrman also supports besides the greens--onions and garlic. Good thing, because I don't think my dedictation to this plan would work otherwise.

I wanted to share my "lunch" with you all. This is not a rocket science lunch here. I will say, I am easy to please when it comes to lunch. I am usually pretty hungry by around one--which is when I typically eat my lunch. Sometimes later--before three for sure. With ETL--you are consuming the salad first--rememeber? Well, in the case of my lunch today, I made sure my salad was incorporated within my wrap. Maybe Dr. Fuhrman would not agree with this idea, but I had a hard time wanting to eat a salad before my hummus wrap.  

Dr. Fuhrman has a philosophy about eating the salad first that I found quite practical: The first thing you eat during any meal will most likely be the one thing you tend to eat the most of. So, let's say I am sitting down to a veggie burger and salad for lunch. Then I take my first bite. . . of the burger first. This is not the best "order-of-eating" in his opinion. Going about eating my meal this way, I am still going to want to eat that burger and maybe "graze" over my greens. (Which is true, I am a living testament to that.) So, as another example, if I were to make a batch of vegan cookies before Mr. Thyme comes home--I tend to want (not need) a spoonful here and there of my dough along the way. Until I am "full". Which puts me in jeopardy in terms of what my appetite should be when I sit down to eat my first helping of greens for dinner. Will I want them after consuming a cup's worth of raw cookie dough? Not likely. I have a lot of self discipline to work out with this new plan.

Black Garlic And Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 roasted red pepper (I used the kind in a jar)

5 kalamata olives (no pits)

4 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons of tahini

5 sundried tomatoes (use what you have--if only the ones in oil are on hand, that would work)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon Spike (or s & p to taste)

1 teaspoon Turkish seasoning (from Penzey's)

Put all ingredients into blender. Blend until just barely smooth. Serve as you'd like.