I’ve been trying to figure out ways to make vegetables a bigger part of my lunch. As you might know, I love hiding greens in my breakfast smoothies, and I always make some type of vegetable with dinner, but lunch usually gets left out. The other thing is, in general, I’m not sure if I eat enough vegetables on a regular basis so I wanted to come up with an easy and delicious way to do that.
A lot of my food inspiration comes from Pinterest and I saw a picture of vegetable “sushi” and I knew I needed to recreate it for myself. My finished products look a little more like volcanoes than sushi, so I decided to rename it. Also, volcanoes sounds cool and maybe that will help non-veggie eaters to get more excited about vegetables. Basically, this whole thing is combining dip and vegetables in one small bite-able package that you can pack away in your lunch box. I mean yes I could just have hummus and vegetables. However, when I do that sometimes I eat more hummus and only a few actual sticks of vegetables. This gorgeous little package means that I eat more vegetables, more kinds of vegetables, and only a little hummus.
I really like this recipe in part because I’m big on the idea of “eating the rainbow,” or basically trying to eat lots of different colors of fruits and vegetables. It’s meant to be good for you because you get lots of different vitamins and minerals. Also it just look delightful.
This recipe is also really flexible to your tastes because you can use whatever vegetables you like or have on hand. For example, if you have a farm share with tons of vegetables you don’t know what to do with – this can be a way to redistribute them (think kohlrabi or garlic scapes). For example, I like radishes but I don’t ever know what to do with them and this helps use them up. Finally, if you are able to make them neatly you could serve them as a appetizers for a party. So simple, yet so versatile.
Messy level: The hummus can squish out of the wraps and make a bit of a mess and hurt the presentation. But when all’s said and done, that’s barely a mess right? Just get some more vegetables and sop it up and the mess is clean.
- 1 zucchini
- 1 carrot
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 small radishes
- other vegetables and herbs as you like
- hummus
- Cut the zucchini lengthwise in thin strips. This is best done with a mandolin, but you can do it as well with your knife or with a peeler. You want the zucchini thin enough to roll but thick enough to hold its shape.
- Cut the rest of the vegetables into thin matchstick strips about 1.5-2 inches long. The cut doesn't have to be perfect don't worry.
- On a clean work surface lay our your zucchini slices.
- Spoon a healthy dollop of hummus on one end of the zucchini. Spread it out so it's covering about ¼-1/3 of the zucchini slice. (Ryan spread it across the whole thing, that works too but it's a bit messier when you take a bite)
- Place a bunch of the matchstick vegetables on top of the hummus.
- Roll up the zucchini so the vegetables are held in a tight bunch.
- Take your spoon and place a little hummus on the inside edge of the zucchini. This is the "glue" that is going to hold your volcano together.
- If it's looking a little empty, you can shove in a few more slices of vegetables through the opening in the top. Fill until it's full enough for your liking (but can still hold its shape).
- Place on a plate or in your lunch box.
- Serve with a napkin, eat and enjoy! Any leftover vegetables dip into the leftover hummus and eat it the old fashioned way.
