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- Serves 6 to 8
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Get the party started with this hearty vegan hummus recipe featuring the flavors of acorn squash and a hint of curry. For a festive presentation, use the scooped-out squash shell as a serving bowl for your hummus, and surround it with your favorite crudités and/or crackers for dipping. This recipe is the featured appetizer in our 2017 Forks Thanksgiving menu. Click here to view the entire vegan Thanksgiving menu and download a mini e-cookbook of all the recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 small acorn squash (about 1.5 pounds)
- 1 medium sweet onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced (6 cloves)
- ½ tablespoon curry powder
- 1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (or 1½ cups cooked chickpeas)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- Assorted fresh vegetables, for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice about one-third off the top of the acorn squash so you can use the lower portion as a deep serving bowl for the hummus. Clear out the seeds, and place the top and bottom pieces of squash face-down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Set squash aside until cool enough to handle.
- Scoop out the squash flesh from both pieces, being careful not to break the shell of the larger piece.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onion, garlic, curry powder, and ½ cup water in a sauté pan, for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Transfer onion mixture to the bowl of a food processor; add chickpeas, scooped-out squash flesh, lemon juice, tahini, and parsley. Blend to a smooth consistency, add salt and pepper to taste, and blend again briefly to incorporate.
- Scoop hummus back into the acorn squash shell, and serve with crudités or crackers.
Comments (10)
(5 from 4 votes)This is fantastic! I can’t wait to make it again. I added extra raw garlic because I was afraid the cooked garlic wouldn’t be strong enough for my tastes, and ended up with “death by garlic”! At first I thought it was a big mistake, but now I’m hooked. Next time I will add extra raw garlic, and use a tip from my old hummus recipe, which is cooking the canned chick peas for 20 minutes with a half teaspoon of baking soda, drain and rinse. This makes the hummus much smoother. Oh, and I’ve found this a great solution for almost anything too bland. I just add a spoonful or two of this. My favorite use is to spread it on Ezekiel bread and top with a big pile of sprouts. I’m really going to keep this on hand. I’m having a hard time giving up fat, and this on bread instead of butter is a great substitute.
Wow this is delicious! I doubled the curry powder and tahini and it's so flavorful! Mine turned out a bit runny but I think it's because I used a vitamix to blend instead of the food processor. I don't mind the consistency and I think it will thicken up just right in the refrigerator. I can't wait until it cools so I can enjoy with some raw carrots and broccoli! Scrumptious!
I don’t know if I used too much squash, but it is a little squash heavy. I will look for a smaller squash next time. Maybe it would be better to say how many cups of squash to use instead of just a small squash. I also think it needs more curry and will use 1 tsp next time - and maybe add garlic and onion powder. More tahini, too
Can the tahini be omitted or substituted with something oil-free?
Tahini has oil from the nuts. Drain off some or all and add hot water and blend. The oil is naturally occurring.
I'd like to see hummus recipes that don't require industrial technology. I never made hummus before October and I do not want to follow any of the recipes I have found online. I don't have a "food processor" and the blender is not a good tool for hummus. Some of these online recipes boast of being the -smoothest- in the known universe. So what? A fork is perfect to mash the pulse and other ingredients. The hand-mashed stuff tastes better and is easier and quicker. And why does everybody wash canned chick peas? Is the juice so distasteful (or toxic) that you can't leave even a touch of it on the beans?
Calm down. Nothing wrong with the juice from chickpeas. It’s called aquafaba and is good to use on many vegan recipes. People rinse them off to get rid of the extra salt if not using low sodium chickpeas.
A food processor makes life easier and I’ve never had hummus that’s been mashed. I prefer it smooth but it’s to everyone’s choice. You seem a little annoyed.
Oh FFS. Use a food processor, a blender, a fork, or your own knuckles. Who cares?
Hi Jesse. A lot of people (including me) have trouble digesting legumes. Draining and rinsing the beans is supposed to help, at least a little.