This easy lentil dip makes a great weeknight meal, with something like pumpkin salad or tabbouleh. Also great as a snack-y lunch! Pack the dip with some sourdough or crackers, some pickled red onions, veggies, and you’re good to go.
My favourite way to eat it is making a cracker sandwich with the lentil dip, a peppery orange slice, pickled onions, and parsley. Very good.
Notes and Substitutions
The mezze ingredients are easy to alter to your tastes, but really, this is an excellent combination and I encourage you to try it as is. If you do change a few things make sure you keep that creamy/crunchy/sweet/spicy/salty balance intact – like subbing another fruit for the orange, but not leaving it out entirely, or switching figs for dates.
If you want to go all homemade, try sourdough crackers in place of store bought.
This is a seasonal mezze so I chose cold-weather friendly items but didn’t at all feel like I was missing something. If you’re thinking it looks like a lot of work, think again!
The dip can be made ahead of time, and it’s really not much work, and otherwise it’s just a bit of slicing. Everything can be prepped ahead of time! With the exception of, perhaps, the carrots, which have a tendency to dry out.
In the ingredients list, I’m giving you the amounts that I used to serve two hungry people. Multiply that by however many people you’re planning on feeding. The hummus will serve about six. I chose to serve the lentil dip alongside my standard chickpea hummus for a little variety, because there’s no such thing as too much hummus.
And the sweet potato dip, so good. The garlic is roasted ahead of time with the sweet potato (a good thing to add to your batch cooking list). You don’t roast a whole head of garlic, don’t worry! Turns out garlic roasts up perfectly well as individual cloves as long as you leave the skin on.
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Sweet Potato Lentil Hummus + A Vegan Mezze
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Lentil Hummus
- 1 small sweet potato
- 3 cloves garlic skin on
- 1 ½ cups cooked red lentils
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice of a lemon
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Vegan Mezze
- 1 batch Sweet Potato Lentil Hummus
- 1 batch Lebanese Hummus
- 6 crispbread crackers
- Several sesame cracker sticks
- Pickled red onions
- A dozen green olives
- 1 large navel orange peeled, sliced, and topped with pepper
- ½ of a pomegranate
- 6 medium carrots sliced
- A handful of dates
- A handful of parsley
Instructions
- Sweet Potato Lentil Hummus
- Roast the sweet potato and garlic at 200°C (400°F) until soft, about 40 minutes for the sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato in half and place it cut-side down on the baking sheet to cook it faster. The garlic will take about 15 minutes - make sure to take it out when it's finished as it will take less time than the sweet potato. Set both aside to cool for at least 10 minutes before blending.
- Remove the skin from the roasted vegetables and place them into a food processor along with the lentils, tahini, oil, lemon juice, and seasoning. Blend until completely smooth, about 5 minutes. Add a small splash of water if it's too thick. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt if needed.
- To serve, top the hummus with olive oil, za'atar (optional), pomegranate seeds, and parsley.
- Vegan Mezze
- Serve the hummus in small bowls and arrange with the other elements on a board so that people can serve themselves.
Notes
• Overcook the lentils, to make them as soft as possible, so that the hummus is very smooth.
* If you're making this for a party alongside other dishes, the two hummuses should do it for up to 10 people, but you'll need to add more crackers, veggies, and everything else.
Alene says
Beautiful!
Terri says
By your description, I’m totally sold on this hummus! I love hummus so I can also see myself devouring the entire thing.
Terri says
By your description, I’m totally sold on this hummus! I love hummus so I can also see myself devouring the entire thing.