Life can sometimes feel redundant but I try to break out of the norm by experimenting with different varieties of hummus. My personal favorite to make at home is a roasted red pepper blend. As long as you have all the ingredients, it is pretty hard to go wrong. Be careful not to burn your hands when de-skinning your bell pepper. The fresher your ingredients, the more the flavor will pop. If you want to get really wild you can mix it up with your spices. This hummus can be flavored in whatever way excites you the most. The hardest part is getting the correct texture.Serving size: 1-4 (It is basically two dinners for yourself if you don’t want to share.)

Prep: 20 minutes

Approx. cost: $11

Ingredients:

1 medium red bell pepper

1 can of chickpeas

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon paprika

Juice of one (preferably fresh) lemon

Roughly 1 tablespoon of pine nuts (buy a small amount from a bulk bin)

A good sprinkle of salt

Basil leaf garnish (optional if you are feeling boujee)

Handful of sun-dried tomatoes (optional) 

Get to cookin’: 

1. Roasty toasty: Turn your oven to broil; the top of it should start to heat up. Slice your bell pepper in half, take out its seeds and rinse it. Next, place it on a tray as close to the top of your oven as possible. Keep your bell pepper in the oven until the skin has large black spots and is very well toasted, about five to seven minutes — keep an eye on it. The length of time you should roast will differ depending on the oven. When the peppers are ready you will notice that the skin is starting to come off.

2. Peel: Take the peppers out, let them cool and peel the skin off. It should come off very easily. If it does not, you need to roast longer. Now you can tell whatever friends you might have that you successfully peeled a bell pepper. I would be proud of that. Your life is very interesting and meaningful.

3. Prep in any order you want: Smash your garlic until you can easily peel its skin off then put it in your blender. Save the liquid in your chickpea container before tossing the beans in your blender with the garlic. Drop the peppers into the mix too. Pour in the tahini (with a hefty portion of its oil) and your olive oil. Squeeze your lemon in a separate bowl, get rid of the seeds and pour it into your mix. Toss in your pine nuts, salt and paprika.

4. Blend: Consider the parts of your life which you enjoy most while you blend the hummus together.

5. Taste: After whipping up the hummus for about a minute it should be fairly smooth and not clumpy. If it is clumpy or thick, add more water and blend longer. And you can definitely add more paprika or salt if you feel it is necessary. It is also fine to add more garlic, different oils, onions or other herbs if you want to get wild. I encourage going beyond your flavor comfort zone.