This is my kids favorite way to eat lunch. Throw some food on a platter: pick, dip and eat! I usually make this simple rosemary hummus to go along with the veggies and pita chips. The fruit and cheese are just to round things out!
Rosemary Hummus:
1 can garbanzo beans (or any white beans you like), drained and rinsed
1 tbsp dried rosemary or 2-4 fresh rosemary sprigs, leafs stripped
1 clove garlic
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Put everything but olive oil in food processor and blend for a minute. Then add oil a little at a time, blending as you go until everything is incorporated. Salt and pepper. To kick it up a notch, use crushed red pepper flakes instead of black pepper. That's it! Serve with sliced celery, carrots, bell peppers, pita chips or tortilla chips.
* Beans kind of have it all. Fiber, check. Protein, check. Iron, vitamin B, antioxidants and other trace minerals. Check. Remember that obnoxious song you used to sing when you were a kid. "Beans, beans, the magical fruit the more you eat. . ." You probably know the rest, but as obnoxious as that song was it's remarkably accurate :) It's true that the more beans you eat "the better you feel."
Enjoy!
Melissa Cornwall has spent years researching and implementing nutritionally-based approaches to health and wellness. Her lifelong love of food and health evolved from a hobby to a passion when her daughter was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease.