Today I have a new recipe for you. I wanted to try a gluten-free cracker recipe because ones from the grocery store are either a) pumped up with preservatives and processed ingredients like tapioca or potato starch or b) super expensive. And at the rate we go through hummus and crackers at my house, I knew I needed to find a better way. I had never made my own crackers before but holy cow were these, everything I look for in a new snack recipe: easy, quick, and delicious. Don’t be intimidated by the nutritional yeast – it is deactivated baking yeast that adds texture and flavor to the crackers. It’s used fairly often in vegan baking as a dairy replacement but in here it just adds some extra oomph.
That brings us to the chimichurri hummus. I’ve actually had this recipe on the brain for months, ever since some friends and I went to El Patio Argentine in Rockville. I was so excited to see that they had a shop in the back with a bunch of food I recognized from my time there. I decided I couldn’t leave without some chimichurri mix (and maybe some dulce de leche…) Chimichurri is a ubiquitous sauce down there and it’s a combination of garlic, oregano, parsley, and red pepper mixed in olive oil. If you don’t live near an Argentine restaurant, you can find it on Amazon. I had a hunch that the same flavors would work well in hummus, and… well, you’ll just have to try for yourself ;)
3/4 cup almond meal
2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tbsp. herbes de provence
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup tahini
3 tbsp. chimichurri mix
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. water
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl combine all the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Then add the oil and water, mix together using your hands until it can form a ball of dough.
Plop the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet roll out with a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick (as thin as you can get it without ripping).
Cut the crackers dough into squares with a pizza cutter or knife.
Bake for 25 minutes in the oven. After ten minutes start checking to make sure they don't burn.
Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for (at least) ten minutes.
In your food processor xombine all the ingredients. Process until it makes a paste.
If necessary add water 1/2 tablespoons at a time to adjust to desired consistency.
