Joyous Health: Almond Rosemary Flatbread and Sweet Potato Hummus

Joyous Health: Almond Rosemary Flatbread and Sweet Potato Hummus

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably already know I love Mediterranean food. Whether I’m choosing a restaurant or choosing what I’m going to cook for dinner, recipes inspired by Italian, Provençal, Greek, Turkish and North African culinary traditions usually make it to the top of my list.

I’m not only a fan of these dietary traditions because they’re so tasty, but also because studies have shown that Mediterranean diets have many health benefits, including reduced rates of heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

One of my favourite parts of a Mediterranean-style meal is the bread, dips and spreads you usually start with. I love bread almost as much as Oprah does. Unfortunately, a love of bread can be tricky to navigate if you’re trying to avoid gluten.

Being a nutritionista who counts herself rather handy in the kitchen, I thought I’d tackle the problem head on by creating a gluten-free flatbread that would be right at home at any tapas. I’m so pleased with how it turned out, but even the tastiest flatbread recipe is a little ho-hum without a great spread to go with it. Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and created a sweet potato hummus that pairs perfectly with this flatbread. I love the rich orange colour the sweet potato gives this recipe. It’s so much prettier than your average hummus! It’s also higher in antioxidant carotenoids and fibre!

Directions

Almond Rosemary Flatbread

1. Preheat convection oven setting to 180 degrees Celsius
.
2. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, buckwheat flour, ground flaxseed, garlic powder, dried rosemary and sea salt. In a separate small bowl, combine eggs, oil and water.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and then fold in grated cheese. The batter will be thick and sticky.
4. Optional: Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend until creamy smooth.
5. Grease pan with oil or cover with parchment paper. Spread batter onto pan.
6. Bake on the convection oven setting for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let cool, then cut into squares and spread sweet potato hummus on each square.

Sweet Potato Hummus

1. Preheat oven to steam setting 1. Spread sweet potato on glass pan and steam sweet potato for 20 minutes.
2. Remove sweet potato from oven and let cool.
3. Once cooled, add sweet potatoes to a blender or food processor and blend with remaining ingredients until smooth and creamy.

See more recipe ideas from Joy McCarthy of Joyous Health.