Bloody Mary Hummus

No vodka, but plenty of flavor.

Nothing cures a raging hangover or sets off a great day-load quite like a Bloody Mary.  If you try hard enough, you can even convince yourself that it is a health drink.*  But sometimes, it just isn't acceptable to be indulging in the spicy-tomatoey-vodka goodness.  Fret not, for we have created a recipe to deliver that kick-you-in-the-face-spice without having to suck down tomato juice sans vodka.  We gladly present to you

Bloody Mary Hummus

We started with a basic recipe for hummus and then slowly started adding our favorite bloody fixings and tasting as we went to score the perfect flavor.

The Inspiration

Ingredients:

3 15 ounce cans chick peas

3 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons olive oil

Tomato Juice

Worcestershire Sauce

Horseradish

Tabasco (or other hot sauce)

Fresh ground black pepper

Old Bay Seasoning

1 tomato (garnish)

• Cook the chick peas in the liquid until softened (15-20 minutes)
• Starting with about a quarter cup of chick peas and a little of the cooking liquid, grind the chick peas in a blender until they begin to become smooth.  Add a teaspoon of tahini and olive oil, another quarter cup of chick peas with some liquid and blend until smooth.  The key here is to slowly add each ingredient and to empty the blender as needed.  The hummus can get pretty thick and it is difficult to continue adding chickpeas if the mixture is too thick.** You will be adding more liquid later, so don't make the base hummus too thin.
• When you have a fairly thick batch of hummus, put it all in a large bowl that will allow for mixing.  Prepare for the fun part.
• Add about 5 dashes each of Worcestershire and Tabasco, 2 tablespoons of tomato juice, and 1 tablespoon of horseradish to the hummus.  Mix well.  Continue adding whichever ingredients you prefer in your bloody until you find the right mix of tomato and spice.  We like horseradish in our bloodies, so ours leaned this way.
• As you are mixing, liberally add black pepper and Old Bay, making sure to mix these in well.
• Continue until you have the taste you desire, being careful to avoid over spicing the hummus if you are making this for a crowd.
• Fun option - remove the seeds from one plum tomato and dice.  Mix the tomato with Worcestershire, Tabasco and Old Bay.  Use this as a garnish in the middle of your hummus (as pictured).

For serving, provide some standard Bloody Mary garnishes - celery, cherry tomatoes, olives, pickled asparagus, and bacon all make great delivery devices for this appetizer. We also provided carrots, our preferred hummus dipper.

Enjoy the burn!

*Fun story - I was playing rugby one fine Saturday morning, when Brittany struck up a conversation with another slightly older female spectator.  This lovely woman decided to tell Brittany all about her brand new "health food diet" and the amazing benefits.  She then proceeded to ask Brittany about the contents of her 32 ounce bottle of "health drink" which contained at least a solid 5 ounces of vodka.  Breakfast of Champions.

** Alternate option: don't be cheap skates like us - buy a food processor.