The Color Purple - Eggplant Hummus & Jacaranda

 Emblematic of L.A. is its grand boulevards lined with palm trees. This month a purple upstart enters the scene -- the blossoming Jacaranda Tree. Stand under its branches at full bloom and the perfume is overwhelming.

May is the month that launches millions of blossoms carpeting large swaths of sidewalk; drive along 6th Street near LACMA and its blue for blocks. 

To keep the purple theme going I add cooked purple eggplant to a Hummus recipe. I have found roasted eggplant in oil at my local 99c only Store.

But you can roast or saute a fresh eggplant, too. Just click here to see how I do it.

Click on any photo to see larger.

My Hummus recipe is made with easy-to-get ingredients. I use sesame seeds instead of hard-to-find tahini, which is similar to peanut butter, just blander.

And cans of cooked garbanzo beans are cheap at any grocery store. Also add a little lemon juice, ground cumin, and olive oil.

It all comes together easily in a blender or food processor, just blend until creamy.

I like to serve Eggplant Hummus with triangles of pita bread. You can use a favorite cracker or fresh chopped veggies like celery, broccoli, or carrot.

So watch my meditative recipe video below. To get things started I give you a tour of some favorite jacaranda trees and blossom sightings in Los Angeles then the recipe follows.

Eggplant Hummus & Jacaranda Blossoms - Video

Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes, 24 seconds.

To view or embed video from youtube click here.

Ingredients

• 1 small jar marinated grilled eggplant - Okay to use fresh baked or sauteed eggplant.
• 1 can garbanzo beans - 16 ounces, drained.
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds - or 2 tablespoons of tahini.
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic - fresh or from the jar.
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice - fresh or concentrate from a 99-cent plastic lemon.
• Pita bread slices - or favorite sliced raw veggies.

Directions
Drain a can of garbanzo beans.

Add all ingredients (including oil from marinated eggplant) to a blender or food processor and blend for 20 to 30 seconds until hummus is creamy.

Serve with sliced pita bread triangles and/or fresh chopped veggies (carrots, celery, red/yellow bell pepper, etc.) 99c only Stores also sell roasted red bell pepper in a jar, so try that sometime instead of eggplant.

If your local 99-cent or dollar store is out of bottled roasted veggies make a plain one with the above-mentioned ingredients and the addition of a 1/4 cup of the 99-cent olive oil blend.

Hindsight
I use sesame seeds in this Hummus recipe. Usually, a paste called tahini is used, if you can find it then use it - about a tablespoon or two. Tahani tastes like bland peanut butter, so if you can't find sesame seeds or tahini then add a teaspoon of peanut butter.

I also have a recipe for Baba Gnoush that uses roasted eggplant. Just click here if you want to use fresh roasted eggplant, or if you can't find cheap marinated eggplant in oil. One eggplant should be plenty for this recipe. Eggplants are sometimes sold large-sized, but they shrink a lot when baked or sauteed.