Raw Nut Pulp Hummus

Raw Nut Pulp Hummus 

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup nut pulp (leftovers from making nut milk from this recipe)
1 fat clove garlic
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. water
4 Tbsp. raw tahini (or other raw nut butter)
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. crushed chilies or cayenne pepper
pinch sea salt + pepper

Directions:
1. In a food processor, pulse to mince garlic. Add everything but the nut pulp and blend until creamy.
2. With the motor running, slowly add the nut pulp a few spoonfuls at a time until you have everything well blended. If desired, add more water, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
3. Serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. (Remember that the nut pulp will last for up to seven days, so make your hummus quickly after the nut milk!)

If you are not using your pulp right away, put it in the fridge in a sealed container. It will keep for about a week, so if you don’t really plan on using it by that time, you have two options to extend the pulp’s shelf-life:

• Freezing is the easiest and fastest way to carry on with your day and forget about the pulp, but you will have to take the time to defrost it prior to using it in your recipes. Put it in a plastic zipper bag, or any sealed container — of course glass is always better when freezing food.

• Dehydrating the pulp is the basis for making almond flour, which will give a finer texture to your preparations. Just spread the pulp as evenly and thinly as you feel like over a teflex dehydrator sheet or baking tray & let it become completely dry. Then pulverize it in the blender and keep in a sealed container.

Chef's notes.....

If you know you are going to use the nut pulp for Hummus, I would suggest using less dates or make an unsweetened almond milk.

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Almond Milk

I love almond milk.

But you know what I love more…homemade almond milk.

You can absolutely drive out to your local store and buy almond milk – but once you’ve had it fresh, the rich taste will keep you coming back for more! And guess what? It’s super easy to make.

Homemade Almond Milk

Ingredients

-pure, filtered water for soaking
-1 cup raw, organic almonds
-4 cups pure, filtered water, or coconut water.

Optional Add-Ins

-sweetener to taste (i.e. maple syrup, honey, stevia, or my ultimate fave…4-6 medjool dates)

-homemade vanilla extract (I like to add 1 teaspoon to the mix)

-carob powder (Chocolate almond milk anyone!?!)

-spices (i.e. cinnamon, allspice, cloves, cardamon…get creative)

Method

1.Allow the almonds to soak covered in pure, filtered water for up to 48 hours in the refrigerator. Overnight will do, if you’re in a pinch. But, I like to give mine a good couple of days.

2. After soaking, strain the soaked almonds and toss the soaking water.

3. Place your almonds, four cups of pure, filtered water or coconut water, and any optional add-ins in a high-speed blender —  and blend on high until the mixture becomes frothy…approximately 1-2 minutes.

4. Pour the contents of the blender through a cheese cloth lined strainer — or if you have one, a nut milk bag — into a 1 quart glass canning jar. Squeeze to extract all the goodness of the almond meal.

5. Store the milk in the refrigerator. It should keep for up to 3 days. Shake the jar prior to use.

I don’t like the idea of wasting all of that almond meal/pulp. Now granted, most of the nutrients are gone into the milk, but I still find it useful for recipes like Hummus…yum! Or you could dehydrate them for use as a coating for chicken and fish. Perhaps make almond butter. What about using them as a body or facial scrub?

The possibilities are endless really!  

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