I’ve developed this Plantain Zucchini Hummus recipe nearly 3 years ago, shortly after return to Vancouver. Gosh, how time flies: it feels like yesterday! It was in the mid of September, the time when I started to reintroduce some of the foods.

During the elimination phase of the Autoimmune Protocol I realized that one of the foods I missed the most was hummus and my mind kept on traveling to the chickpea hummus. There are already recipes available with zucchini and cauliflower hummus, which I love, but I kept on craving the real thing! Unfortunately chickpeas are not allowed on the autoimmune paleo diet and being legumes, they don’t even constitute a part of the paleo diet. Luckily, cooking can be pretty adventurous and creativity does help! Indeed, on many occasions I felt as if I was on the edge of culinary discoveries and here is one of them: chickpea hummus, made paleo!

The trick here is to use a green plantain that just starts to turn yellow as it makes the most authentic-tasting hummus. Another trick is to mix it with a vegetable that will “dilute” plantain texture making it less concentrated. Zucchini or cauliflower work equally well here as both of them have a rather neutral taste, plus they add volume and change texture of the final dish.

I’ve developed two variations of the plantain zucchini hummus: Paleo and AIP (see recipe notes). But to make it taste similar to the real hummus addition of tahini and cumin is highly recommended. Luckily, I had a successful reintroduction of sesame seeds, but we all are different and some people can have allergy or sensitivity to them. So make sure that you are neither allergic nor sensitive to the sesame seeds before proceeding with the recipe. Otherwise, sesame seeds can become a healthy edition to the diet as they provide excellent source of vegetable-based protein as well as dietary fiber and healthy fats. Besides, sesame seeds are rich in B vitamins and various minerals such as calcium, zinc, iron, phosphorus, magnesium among many others.

I hope that you will enjoy my paleo-adapted “chickpea hummus”!

Fall colors of Vancouver

4.5 from 2 reviews

Plantain Zucchini Hummus (Chickpea Hummus Imitation)

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Author: Zesty Paleo

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium slightly yellow plantain,
• cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 medium zucchini or summer squash,
• skin removed & cut into 1 inch chunks
• 4 tablespoons olive oil (add more for drizzling)
• ½ cup tahini sesame paste (for AIP see notes below)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (for AIP see notes below)
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper (optional, for AIP see notes below)
• Olives and coriander leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan bring water to a boil. Add plantain and zucchini and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until plantain is easily pierced with a fork. Drain and reserve ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. Set aside to cool until safe to handle.
2. Combine plantain and zucchini in a food processor with olive oil, tahini paste, cumin, lemon juice & zest, garlic, salt and pepper. Purée until the mixture is very smooth. Add the reserved liquid, one spoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
3. Transfer the plantain zucchini hummus to a bowl, drizzle it with olive oil and and garnish with olives and coriander leaves.
4. Serve* and enjoy!

Notes

AIP/Whole30 friendly version: Substitute 2 full tablespoons palm shortening for tahini, omit cumin and pepper and use ½ teaspoon ground ginger instead.

* Plantain-based meals tend to go a bit stale in the fridge, so either enjoy this plantain zucchini hummus right away or give it a stir before serving.

3.5.3208