A neighborhood mom and fellow Park Slope Food Co-op member has for months been raving to me about sunflower seed butter. It took me a while to make room for yet another nut butter in the fridge (next to the peanut and almond butters) but when I finally got around to trying sunflower seed butter, I could definitely see its appeal. Slightly sweet, very creamy and very rich, but it has the delicate flavor of sunflowers. It was almost too rich for me to spread on a slice of bread. Doing that kind of felt like eating sesame tahini straight up. And that’s when I tried making hummus with this instead of tahini. With sunflower seed butter, the hummus is mellow and very smooth and buttery. So buttery, that I didn’t even need to drizzle in any olive oil. I added some scallions for a spike of sharp, green flavor and my new favorite hummus was born.
This hummus tastes just right to me when it’s had a chance to sit for about an hour or so. The garlic and scallion become more pronounced as time goes on. After a day or two, my kids deem it "too spicy" (but I still like it).
Makes about 2 cups
Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus resting time, if desired
2 cups cooked chick peas, with some of the cooking liquid reserved
3 tablespoons sunflower seed butter
3 scallions, white and light green parts roughly chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
Kosher salt to taste (start with about 1/2 teaspoon and add more as necessary)
Fresh lemon juice to taste (start with about a teaspoon, going up to about 3 teaspoons)
- In a food processor or with an immersion blender, process all ingredients together until very smooth. Moisten with cooking liquid and process again until you get a thick, dip-like consistency that will hold on to pretzels, crackers, and veggie sticks.
- Taste and add more salt and lemon juice as desired.
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