Roasted Carrot Hummus for One

I make hummus every week. Plain old chickpea could get pretty boring, so I often experiment with different beans and herb combinations with marvelous results. But what happens when the main vegetable isn’t a legume at all? Happiness, I tell you; it makes simple joy.

Makes about a cup of dip.

2 cloves garlic

4 carrots

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 TBLSP tahini

1 TBLSP lemon or lime juice. More, if you like it tart.

1 TBLSP olive oil

Sprinkle of dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Place two naked but whole garlic cloves on a piece of aluminum foil and place that on a baking sheet. 
2. Cut a large piece of parchment paper (you’ll be wrapping the carrots in it).
3. Cut the carrots into 1-inch segments. Place them on the large parchment paper.
4. Sprinkle olive oil (be frugal—you don’t need much) and salt and pepper over the carrots. Rotate ‘em around a bit, to make sure that everything is covered.
5. Bring two edges of the parchment paper together and fold them several times to make a tight little packet. You’ll want to fold the other edges together too. Tuck and fold until the little darlings are sealed inside there and place the packet on the same baking sheet as the garlic.
6. Bake everything for 10 minutes. Flip the garlic over and bake for another 10 minutes. (The carrots are getting 20 minutes undisturbed.)
7. At 20 minutes, pull the garlic out and set the little brownish and soft darlings into the food processor or blender. You can touch the packet to see if the carrots are soft yet. They probably won’t be, and will need another 10 minutes alone in the oven.
8. Meanwhile, add the tahini, lemon juice, TBLSP of olive oil, salt and pepper, and the parsley to the food processor. You can give ‘em a little preliminary twirl if you are an inveterate button pusher, but it’s not necessary.
9. When the carrots are soft (a knife should go in fairly easily), open the parchment and plop them into the food processor or blender, and whirl everything until it’s fairly smooth. You might adjust oil or lemon as well as salt and pepper to suit your taste before pulling the gorgeous glop out of the machine.

Serve with Butternut Squash Chips for One (coming soon) or carrots, cucumber, and celery, depending on how lavish you want your treat.

Also makes a great sandwich spread and is especially delicious with Dried Fig Tapenade.