AIP bean-free lemon-garlic hummus from sweet potato and turnip

Chickpeas and tahini both leave the kitchen once you start this protocol, and hummus usually leaves with them, along with the 10-second snack it used to be. This version rebuilds it from roasted sweet potato and turnip instead of beans, and it holds up next to a bowl of cut vegetables the same way the original always did.

Olive oil is doing more than carrying flavor here, most of the monounsaturated fat in this bowl comes from it, useful for taking some heat out of an inflammatory response that has been running too high, and the roasted sweet potato is where the beta-carotene work gets done underneath it. A whole head of garlic, roasted until it turns sweet, rounds out the flavor without a single legume anywhere in the bowl.

Cut the roots to roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly, and let the garlic go fully soft so it turns mild instead of sharp. Set it out on a real plate with vegetables cut and arranged, not just dumped from a bag. A snack that looks cared for gets treated like one.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water (for pressure steaming)
• 1 medium sweet potato (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 1 medium turnip (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Set a rack inside the Instant Pot and pour in the water. Lay the halved sweet potato, halved turnip, and whole head of garlic on the rack. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally.

Let everything cool fully, then peel the sweet potato and turnip and squeeze the soft garlic cloves out of their skins.

Put the peeled vegetables and garlic in a high-speed blender with the olive oil, coconut milk, lemon juice, onion powder, and salt. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Chill, then serve cold with cut raw vegetables for dipping. It holds well in the fridge and travels well to a gathering.

Oven variation

If you do not have an Instant Pot, roast the halved sweet potato, halved turnip, and whole garlic head at 400 F until fork-tender and the garlic is soft, about 45 to 60 minutes. Cool, peel, and blend as above. The times here are ARM estimates, so check for tenderness rather than the clock.

Stovetop variation

Steam the roots and the garlic head in a covered pot over an inch of simmering water until fork-tender, then cool, peel, and blend. Check tenderness as you go.

*Adapted from asquirrelinthekitchen.com*