Blog Train and a Picnic

We are going on a picnic and have brought a  lot of yummy recipes with us. 

What do you like to bring on you with you when you go on picnic?

Are you someone who is very elaborate or do you just pack simple?

Do you like picnics that are romantic - just you and your guy or gal?

Or are you a family oriented picnicker? 

For today's picnic I decided to start out with an appetizer

and made some

Pita Bread and Hummus 

I have never made Hummus before and I thought it couldn't be that hard to make... Could it?  I will start with some Garbanzo Beans that I will cook at home and add some ingredients, mix it in my food processor and voila... Hummus.   That is what I did... well it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it too but it tasted wonderful, even though it wasn't as smooth as it should have been.  I don't think I cooked the Garbanzo Beans long enough, so they were still a little chunky when I put them in the food processor.  

The first thing I did was cooked my Garbanzo Beans.  I never soak my beans before cooking.  I just pick out the bad looking ones, wash them, place them in a pot and cover with water, add salt and cook them until they are soft ~ about 2 hours.  For these recipes I cooked 2 cups (although I ate at least 1/2 cup as I was waiting for them to soften enough).

Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Hummus 

Ingredients:  Printable Recipe

1 cup of Garbanzo Beans (cooked or you could probably use canned)

3 tbsp Olive Oil ( I used Pompeian Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

1/3 cup Sun-dried Tomatoes

1 tbsp fresh basil, cut in pieces

Salt (optional) to taste - I didn't use any as I added salt when I cooked the beans.

Directions:

Place all ingredients into food processor and puree until consistency that you prefer.  I did add a little water to mine as it didn't mix well, which helped to get a thinner, smoother consistency.  I added the water by tbsp until I got the consistency that I wanted.

Chipolte Sun-dried Tomato Hummus

If you want a hummus with a little kick this recipe is for you.

Ingredients: Printable Recipe

3/4 cup Garbanzo Beans (I ate the other 1/4 cup of the beans before I started making the recipe)

1 tbsp Chipolte Sauce

1/3 cup Sun-dried Tomatoes
1 minced garlic clove

3 tbsp olive oil (I used Pompeian Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil)

2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a food processor and puree until you have a smooth consistency.  I added water by the tbsp until I got the consistency that I wanted. 

To make homemade  Seasoned Pita Bread Crackers go here for the recipes.  I baked the bread and cut in small triangle pieces, then heated up my Cast Iron Pan with small amount of oil, and recooked the pita crackers until they were crispy approximately 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

So let's go on a picnic, a virtual picnic that is! Enjoy yourself as you visit each of these great sites as they have something good for you to enjoy during our picnic!

Dizzy Busy & Hungry

What's Cookin Italian Style Cuisine

Sumptuous Spoonfuls

What's On The List?

Baking Beauty

Seduction in the Kitchen

The Kitchen Chopper

That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Marlys This & That

365ish Days of Pinterest

The Baking Wives