Garlicky Basil Hummus

IMG_1732

I love hummus! It’s the perfect dip for chips or raw veggies. It’s so easy and cheap to make, compared to the store-bought variety. And you can ad-lib to make your own flavor combinations that taste way better! Here’s one simple version that tastes great if you like garlic. But be warned: you will have garlic breath after eating this!

Ingredients

1 15-oz. cans of chickpeas (I like Eden Organic variety)

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup tahini

5 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup fresh basil, minced

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whir away until smooth. Add water if needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

cover-Easy-Hiking-RecipesAnd check out my e-book Easy Hiking Recipes for more flavor ideas to spice up your hummus and other hiking food!

Veronique’s Trail Mix Cookies

vcookie1

My friend Veronique and I met while snowshoeing the Grouse Mountain Snowshoe Grind in Vancouver one winter. Hooray for making friends on the trail!

IMG_0287

Here is V’s recipe for yummy energy cookies made with cereal and oats! Don’t they look delicious? In the photos, she included dried cranberries, shredded coconut, and sunflower seeds. This recipe makes about 12-16 cookies, depending on size.

V’s Energy Cookies

1 cup Müslix cereal or other granola type of cereal. V says, “Sometimes I use the Kashi Blueberry Oat Clusters & Flakes cereal for a change”

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder (7 ml)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (5 ml)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1 mashed banana

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk (30 ml)

2 teaspoons vanilla (10 ml)

3 tablespoons honey (45 ml)

In a large bowl, combine cereal, oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, mix the margarine, banana, egg, milk, vanilla and honey. Add wet to dry ingredients and mix well.

Divide the dough into cookies on a nonstick baking sheet and flatten cookies with a fork.

Bake at 350F (180C) for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add-in Options:

  • Chopped nuts
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Dried cranberries
  • Shredded coconut
  • Chocolate chips
  • Raisins
  • Cocoa powder
  • Matcha green tea powder

vcookie2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

cover-Easy-Hiking-RecipesAnd now a word from your sponsor:

Check out my e-book Easy Hiking Recipes for more recipes like this!

Smoothie King Cocoa Cashew Smoothie

IMG_1655

Smoothies make great breakfast drinks or post-hike refreshers. Add a scoop of protein powder as well, to encourage your muscles to rebuild after an intense day.

Joe Wong, founder of the Vancouver Rock Climbing Group and the awesome nonprofit group Climb and Conquer, is also known for making great smoothies. In 2012 he won the smoothie competition at a local organic market, forever crowning him The Smoothie King! Here’s the smoothie he enjoys every morning:

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened soymilk

½ cup raw cashews

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Tiffany’s Smoothie King Inspired Banana Shake

I started making this smoothie after being inspired by Joe’s recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened soymilk

1 banana

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

It’s like a chocolate shake, without all the guilt!

The Berry Version

The Berry Version

The banana-peanut butter version

The banana-peanut butter version

 

As always, check out more great recipes in my Kindle ebook Easy Hiking Recipes 🙂

It’s Alive!

It’s alive! You can now check out my book Easy Hiking Recipes: Simple Meal Ideas for Day Hikes and Other Outdoor Adventures on Amazon.

Click here to check it out.

EasyHikingRecipes

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still read the book using the free Kindle apps:

Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, and Macs: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/kindle/id302584613?mt=8

Kindle app for PCs: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

Kindle for Blackberry: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000468551