This Sun Dried Tomato Hummus is the perfect accompaniment for your crudite platter at your next party.
Last Wednesday, we kicked off the first in a six week series on The Daniel Plan, a healthy lifestyle plan based on the book, The Daniel Plan, by Rick Warren. We have over 50 women of faith signed up, from all different churches, which is so awesome!
Our first session was on Faith, the foundation of The Daniel Plan, for we cannot use will power alone to get us healthy, we need God’s power to help us. Our homework for this week is to figure out which of the five essentials each of us wants to focus on over the next 6 weeks ~ Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus or Friends. We are also setting S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based). I am going to be focusing on Fitness with a goal of exercising five times a week, for at least 30 minutes.
I know that might not sound like a lot to some people, but I’ve had a hard time sticking to any fitness routine the last several months. I get bored easily and end up making excuses why I can’t work out. The Daniel Plan encourages people to find an activity that they enjoy, because if you don’t like it, you’ll quit. That is so true for me. I love walking outside when the weather is nice, but not in the thick of winter. So, I’ll be looking at new, different ways to exercise and mixing things up to make it fun. Instead of looking at exercising as “working out,” I’m going to try to look at it from a different perspective – that getting my body fit and healthy is important because it’s the body God created and I need to take the best care of it so I can do God’s work to the best of my ability.
I made some healthy snacks for our first meeting, including this beautiful crudite platter with Sun Dried Tomato Hummus. I find using different shapes/cuts (florets, long and circular cuts) of vibrant colored vegetables and arranging them to achieve a nice contrast on the platter makes the prettiest crudite platter. I used an orange bell pepper to hold the hummus (Tip: slice a little off the bottom of the bell pepper to make it stand up straight).
Do you see the special Romanesco Cauliflower I used?
I also used these beautiful radishes that my friend gave me. One of them is watermelon radish and the other is purple daikon radish.
This is the gorgeous Fruit Platter with Cara Cara Oranges and Blood Oranges I put together with the help of my good friend, Nancy,
and an assortment of Fruit and Herb Roasted Almonds I made for the night.
This Zucchini Noodle Salad with Sunflower Butter Dressing was the special dish of the night (recipe to come).
The Sun Dried Tomato Hummus was a hit – it’s a beautiful color and complimented the stunning crudite platter perfectly. I love how naturally vibrant the vegetables are. The Daniel Plan is all about eating the foods that God created, not the foods that man created (e.g., processed foods).
Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Recipe {The Daniel Plan Recipe}
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas liquid reserved
- 1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes drained
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water or liquid from chickpeas
Instructions
-
Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
For more Daniel Plan Recipes, check out this post and this The Daniel Plan Recipes Pinterest board I started to inspire our study group to cook healthier.
I love seeing all the fruits and vegetables. Especially the Romanesco Cauliflower! Bless your soul.
I love how beautiful romanesco cauliflower is – almost like a sculpture 🙂
Beautiful pics! I love that you used a bell pepper for the bowl! Yum!
Thanks Kaleigh – the bell pepper bowl is fun isn’t it?
I love sundried tomatoes!! So much smokey flavor!
Sun dried tomatoes add so much flavor – I love them in all sorts of dishes.
This sounds too good! And so easy to make too! Loving all of your colorful pictures!
Thanks Chelsea – yes, it’s very easy to make – great for snacking on throughout the week with lots of veggies.
LOVE all these pictures! I want to dive right in!
Thanks Betsy!
So very delicious and healthy! The purple radishes are so pretty.
Thank you Angie! The purple radishes are really pretty – my friend gave them to me. I’ve never tried them before this.
Jeanette, I’ll have to check out the book, The Daniel Plan. I’ve read a few books from Rick Warren and have done lots of his bible studies. . love that you started a healthy lifestyle plan series!!! and love this hummus!!! going to check out your pinterest board too!
Alice – I read Rick Warren’t Purpose Driven Life and loved it. The Daniel Plan is a project that Rick Warren did with Dr. Hyman and Dr. Amen – it’s a comprehensive healthy lifestyle plan based on five essentials – Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus and Friends. There are all sorts of materials available to help support small groups studying The Daniel Plan. I think you’d be great leading your own group. We have 50 women signed up and feedback has been very positive.
What a beautiful spread. I’m a sucker for a crudite platter and that hummus sounds marvelous!
Found this post via pinterest. It is such a beautiful spread! Where can you find specialty radishes and cauliflower??
My friend gave me the radishes and cauliflower, but I’ve seen specialty radishes and cauliflower at our local supermarket and Whole Foods. If you have a farmer’s market near you, you might find these in season too.