Healthy Snacks: Raw Zucchini Pesto Hummus

Get creative with your homemade hummus! Raw Zucchini Pesto Hummus.

Lately I’ve been into making large batches of healthy snacks I can reach for (or carry with me) when hunger strikes and I don’t have any desire to cook for myself at that moment. This is an effective strategy for avoiding processed foods and never feeling like there’s nothing in the fridge. I’ve been enjoying homemade cranberry orange granola, homemade almond butter and fruit, and recently, I’ve added this raw zucchini pesto hummus to my snack rotation.

This twist on the classic hummus recipe is an adaptation of Kimberly Snyder’s Chickpea-free Hummus. While I’m down to eat any kind of hummus, not all of us respond well to beans, hence the zucchini as replacement.

This recipe is only one example of the many ways zucchini can serve as a replacement to heavier, starchier foods (like pasta!). With its mild taste, it combines well with stronger seasonings—in this case, garlic and basil. Because zucchini is so high in water (around 95%!), it’s a perfectly refreshing food for warm weather.

I tend to think of hummus as rich food before anything else, but this hummus—despite all of the tahini it contains—is as refreshing as it is rich!

Raw Zucchini Pesto Hummus

Ingredients:

2 zucchinis, chopped (or 1 ½ cups soaked and sprouted chickpeas)

2/3 cup raw tahini

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled

juice of one lemon

2 tbsp. nutritional yeast

1/3 cup (or more!) fresh basil

1 tsp. sea salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

¼ cup pine nuts (optional)

¼ cup fresh mint (optional)

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender. Use as a dip for crackers and veggie sticks or spread on a vegan burger pattie (like these beautiful Vegan Sunshine Burgers). Alternatively, use as a creamy salad dressing.