One of my students found out that we had made black bean and sweet potato hummus in another class, and he began a campaign with both me and his own mom to ensure that his class got the chance to make the same dish. He happens to be a major hummus fan and wasn’t about to miss out.
The excitement seemed to be catching. We made this easy and incredibly yummy hummus along with homemade corn chips (although, man would these pita chips with flaxseed oil go well with it, too) as quick as we could and completely left out the faces element for this particular class. They were all at the table and ready to eat with smiles on their faces while the bowls of prepared vegetables languished, forgotten.
To tell you the truth, it was sort of amazing how most of the kids could not get enough of this hummus. R, who had been the one initially campaigning for the stuff and who had raced from school to our apartment in anticipation, gulped it down along with a very sturdy amount of the corn chips. My own son was just sitting there, eating the hummus by the spoonful in a hummus delirium. So, take that and run with it, I say.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hummus Faces
For the Hummus:
*4 cups cooked black beans
*one medium sweet potato, roasted with skin on
*2 cloves garlic, sliced
*1/2 c. olive oil (or 1/4 c. olive oil + 1/4 c. reserved liquid from cooking the beans)
*juice of one lemon or lime (we used a Meyer lemon here)
*several small handfuls of flat leaf parsley and/or cilantro
*1 1/2 t. ground cumin
*1/2 t. salt
*black pepper, to taste
For the Faces:
*a roasted red pepper
*a couple of carrots
*cucumbers
*radishes
*celery
*pita chips
*cheese
*anything else you think of and your mini-chef enjoys with black bean hummus
Measure out each ingredient with your mini-chef. Add the ingredients to a big bowl as you go along, talking about each thing and smelling it.
Big Person, put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Make sure that the top is securely fastened.
Together again: Have your Yummy press the “on” button. Watch as the ingredients start to get smaller and smaller until they all begin to blur together.
Big Person: Once the hummus has completely come together, remove it to a bowl and set aside while you move on to the decorative veggies, etc.
Talk about some shapes with your mini-chefs. Then, cut up your decorations as you think they might compose a face, with artistic expression. (Monkeys, chickens, monsters, and princesses with quirky noses will abound!)
