Roasted Garlic Easy Pumpkin Hummus

When anybody says FALL, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

For me, there are two things that cross my mind immediately: one is the beautiful scenic view of mother nature with fall colors and the second is PUMPKIN. The first lasts only for a few days (wish the fall colors stayed a little longer) while the second one runs throughout the winter. Right? Then why not use it in recipes to boost our vitamin A.

Last Fall, I spent almost all my time in India and couldn’t get a chance to share any pumpkin recipes on the blog. So this super delicious and easy pumpkin hummus with tahini will be my first ever pumpkin based recipe on the blog. I am really excited to share it with you all.

Easy Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

As the name suggests, this is a very quick and easy recipe to prepare. To further enhance the taste of this hummus dip I used roasted garlic (I am a big fan of it). +

Roast a couple of garlic cloves in little olive oil over low heat. Then add this softened, roasted garlic along with oil in the hummus ingredients that include cooked chickpeas, cumin powder, cayenne pepper, some lime juice and of course, pumpkin puree. Also, use some tahini to give the dip some nice nutty flavor and a creamy texture. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined and the mixture gets a smooth texture.

Serving suggestions

Serve this freshly made pumpkin hummus with pita chips or homemade pita bread. It even goes well with Indian naan bread.

You can also pair it with fresh cucumber, carrot or celery to serve as snack or appetizer.

Helpful Tips!

• Use homemade pumpkin puree whenever possible for better taste. This way you can get fresh flavors without too many chemicals or preservatives typically found in packaged products.
• If you are using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse before using for the hummus. Even better, use chickpeas cooked at home, if at all possible.
• Freshly prepared roasted cumin powder adds a nice flavor to any dish. I usually toast the required amount of cumin on a heated fry pan. Then, I pulverize it into powder for instant use whenever I need cumin powder. I know its an additional step but trust me, once you try making cumin powder at home you’d never wanna use store-bought one!

Health benefits

The bright orange color of pumpkin indicates that it is a powerhouse of b-carotene which is an important antioxidant. This beta carotene then converts into vitamin A. According to the University of Illinois Extension during this conversion process b-carotene performs a great roll in overall health. Read more impressive benefits of eating pumpkin in an article published on HuffingtonPost.

Chickpeas are dense in nutrients. It is a good source of plant protein and is considered as a healthy protein. Moreover, it is also rich in dietary fibers, certain dietary minerals (iron and phosphorous) and folate.

Tahini prepared using sesame seeds is a very good source of healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Additionally, it contains a significant amount of calcium, manganese, and the amino acid methionine.