Hummus Surprise

Isn't hummus the best?

Smooth texture, heavy on the garlic, rich tahini flavor...when it comes to spreadable foods, it's hard to beat hummus (well, let's be honest: hummus is a close second to nut butter, right?).

Although we're all used to consuming hummus with the usual suspects--raw veggies, wrap sandwiches, falafel, and pita bread--tonight I enjoyed it with a most un-usual suspect: pasta.

Thank you, Clean Eating Magazine. They never fail to inspire the most innovative and fresh ideas when it comes to food. We paired sun-dried tomato pasta with roasted garlic hummus, roasted broccoli, and red bell pepper.

The result was absolutely delectable, and amazingly easy to assemble, rendering it the perfect menu to follow a long day of work. Bonus: This pasta dish definitely has a summer-time vibe to it, which is just what I need in the midst of this chilly weather and pumpkin insanity (don't get me wrong--I'm as much of pumpkin-head as the next girl right now. But isn't a taste of July in order every now and then?)

Save the falafel for another night. Tonight, go wild with your hummus and try it with pasta.

Do you have any unique or unusual pasta toppings?

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Hummus and Roasted Broccoli

(adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

Feel free to load up more veggies with this one--add whatever sounds good to you! Sorry there aren't any amounts on this one--we just added as we went along :)

Ingredients:

• Sun-dried tomato pasta
• Broccoli florets from one crown of broccoli
• a little olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Pre-made roasted garlic hummus (we went the lazy route and used pre-made batch from Aldi. Delicious!)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 carrot, shredded

Directions:

1) Cook pasta according to package directions. Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

2) Place broccoli in a large bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Roast broccoli in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

3) To serve, add hummus and veggies to individual servings of pasta.