Chestnut Hummus

OK – I know that is a grammatically wrong way to start a sentence, but here is my narrative about how this hummus came to be. Enjoying a beautiful pre-fall day with good friends who had brought along some chestnuts to roast in the oven and serve.

Dinner was done and we decided it was time to roast these babies – I was really excited since this would be the first time I am tasting chestnuts – We have heard the Christmas song “chestnut roasting on an open fire..” crooned by several greats like Bing Crosby,  Nat King Cole and more recently, Michale Buble. But that was simply a song and in all my 19 years in North America, never once did I think to try it – Two years ago I may not have, but since I started the blog, my mind suddenly opened up like a never-ending avenue or better, promenade and I am enjoying so many new experiences.

Right… So here we are sitting on the carpet with a bowl of HOT chestnuts waiting to be cracked open fully (more labor than peeling boiled unshelled peanuts). Popped the first one in my mouth…. I was told my face was expressive enough to convey that I doubted my feelings for this and the best I could come up with was that these were a cultivated taste – I got some grief about that and our friend even jokingly mocked me – “now you will add some chili and other stuff to it and make it into something to submerge the taste of the nut.”

Not one bit true! Most of what I cook I take care does NOT lose itself and blend into the spices –

For starters, I just dipped them in Nutella and already it was tasting better. We do challenge ourselves to like certain things after a certain point in our lives, correct. I knew plain old chestnuts would not do it for me. We had a few nuts left behind from that night and this is what came out of it – A fabulously healthy and delicious hummus, where the taste of the nut prevails above all else, thank you very much!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of roasted and shelled chestnuts (about 20 nuts)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1tsp of brown roasted sesame
• 1red chili
• salt a pinch
• 2tsp olive oil
• ¼ cup of water
• 2tsp lemon juice
•  

Method

1. In a pan, add the oil and the chili first followed by all the ingredients
2. Cook for a couple of minutes only until the chili turns brown
3. Grind to a fine paste
4. Garnish with Basil or mint (optional)
5. Serve with warm bread or with a veggie platter

Chestnut Facts:

Gluten free

Complex Carbohydrates

Low to no fat

Low Cholesterol Food

Good protein albeit not very high

Rich in Vitamin C

In short, one of the best nuts to eat :)

This is a perfect post for my blog event FAST FOOD not FAT FOOD guest-hosted this time by my sweet friend, Archana of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen - Do send you entries to her if you have a healthy recipe you've made -