This paleo friendly roasted tomato cashew hummus is creamy and decadent without the beans.
More tomatoes. More roasting. It’s getting a little broken record-ish over here, huh? Sorry. Except not really.
I don’t think I’ve really come outright and said it on here, but I’m doing a little paleo/SCD experiment in these parts. Besides a couple forkfuls of pasta, a bite of an apple cider donut and a Sunday afternoon ice cream cone, it’s been 16 days of strict no dairy, no legumes and no sugar. So far, I’ve determined two things:
1. Dairy and I might not be as bff as I thought (this is only slightly problematic as I have a shelf full of greek yogurt in my fridge right now) considering I think I’ve lost a pant size from lack of bloating alone.
2. I miss hummus. Like, a lot.
I don’t really understand the whole “say no to legumes” thing that paleo advocates much beyond the fact that they have phytates and apparently that’s bad for you. I’m playing by the rules for a month just to see what happens, what changes I see and how I feel, but I struggle to understand this one. Did cavemen know what the hell a phytate was? I doubt it. Beans were around then, who says they didn’t eat them? I need more convincing on this.
Hummus was my go to afternoon snack. It’s a lovely way to get in veggies without having to boringly munch on raw ones and I needed a replacement stat.
Enter cashews.
When you soak ‘em (soak your nuts, ha) they turn soft (double ha) and almost resemble a bean texture wise, so it actually results in a pretty similar consistency to hummus once you whirl everything around in the food processor for a few minutes.
Roasted garlic, roasted tomatoes, and basil just seal the deal.
Oh, and add 1 triscuit to that cheat list up above. Oops.
Roasted Tomato Cashew Hummus
Ingredients
- 4 plum tomatoes, quartered
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- salt & pepper
- 1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least 3 hours
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1/4 cup packed basil leaves
- 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet.
- Toss tomatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, honey and salt & pepper in a large bowl. Spread out onto baking sheet.
- Cut off tips of garlic cloves, drizzle in olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on baking sheet with tomatoes.
- Roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Place cashews in food processor and process for about 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Add in all remaining ingredients and process for another minute until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Season with more salt & pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
This is a terrific take on hummus! Looks so delish and I love the way you presented it in the tomato too, you creative little thing!
I’m almost all Paleo except I do still eat dairy. I have toyed with removing it to see how my body reacts, but I’m not sure where some of my protein will come from. What do you eat for protein type snacks throughout the day with no yogurt, cheese sticks etc? I just need to make myself try this change!
snacks are hard..carrots and almond butter, this hummus, a handful of nuts, a coconut smoothie, fruit.. But I’ve found that you kind of just have to retrain your brain on paleo. Breakfast was the hardest meal for me until I started getting used to the idea that you just need to treat it like another meal. Just b/c “normally” breakfast means pancakes, waffles and oatmeal doesn’t mean that you HAVE to eat that. You could totally have steak and eggs or sweet potatoes and vegetables. You know? So snacks are kind of similar. They can be a piece of meat or half a sweet potato if you wanted! There’s definitely a bit of an adjustment period that I think I’ve finally (16 days later) just gotten over.
I love cashews and can see that they would be a great sub for chickpeas (although I don’t get the legume issue either). Love the flavors in this one!
I love fiber-licious legumes, so I probably couldn’t cut them out of my diet completely. This does look pretty good though and I think cashews made for an excellent substitution. So creative!
dying over the soak your nuts comment!
and i TOTALLY agree with you on the legumes thing. you know how i feel about paleo anyway, and i have to be honest that i can’t picture following a diet that was eaten so long ago and the people only lived a really short time. maybe it’s just me, but i love me some legumes/dairy/carbs!
that being said, this hummus sounds really delicious!
From the limited reading I’ve done about the paleo diet, I would agree with you about legumes being out mainly because they contain phytates that can inhibit absorption of specific nutrients (specifically zinc, iron, calcium, and magnesium). It can be challenging to acquire those nutrients through produce and meats (especially calcium), and perhaps those who set the rules for the paleo diet wanted to prevent any serious issues with nutrient deficiency (though, like any eating plan, it’s possible if you don’t consume a variety of products). That’s just my guess, though…
Whatever the reason, I don’t think I’m determined enough to go paleo, though I’m definitely excited to try out your recipes. Best of luck!
I played by the paleo rules for a solid uhh…2 weeks. Then went back to my bread-eating ways. Just bread though…no diary, no legumes…I just needed the bread.
And my garden that won’t stop throwing tomatoes at me is SO happy about this recipe. Thaaank you.
haha! For some reason, the lack of bread really isn’t bothering me which I’m totally shocked by. When I did a low carb thing with my mom about 10 years ago I thought I was going to kill someone if I saw them eating bread or pasta in front of me.
At least you’ve found a sub, and a delish looking one at that! But I don’t know if I could cut out hummus. It’s practically a food group on certain days!
I love the versatility of soaked cashews, but its always difficult to use so many at once – they aren’t cheap! :)
very true. those suckers are $$
That looks awesome!! I just started eating more fresh things– I couldn’t imagine cutting them out…but people swear by paleo. Love that cashews work as a substitute for chick peas!