Buffalo Butternut Squash Hummus

Buffalo sauce-seasoned roasted butternut squash hummus makes a spicy vegetable addition to an appetizer spread.

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When I think about game day snacks, Buffalo Chicken Dip is high on the list of essentials.  I've made 2 kinds of Buffalo Chicken pizzas (here and here). (My son will even cobble together a dip out of whatever he can find in fridge if I say 'No, I'm blogging about Corn and Black Bean Salsa in Avocado Cups and not making Buffalo dip!').  That's how much we like the flavor.

But what if your guests include vegans or vegetarians?  What if your guests include folks trying to rein in the tendency to overindulge and want more vegetable options?

I try to have something for a variety of eating styles on my appetizer spread, and I find I can't go wrong with vegetables.  For #AppetizerWeek I'll be sharing a variety of savory appetizers using seasonal vegetables, starting today with Buffalo Butternut Squash Hummus. Tomorrow I'll share a Harvest Sweet Potato salsa, coming on Wednesday I've got a Sriracha twist on this hummus, then I'll round out the week with a pair of puff pastry pizza appetizers--Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza Pinwheels (say that 3x fast) on Thursday and Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites on Friday. Whew, what a week!

This Buffalo Butternut Squash Hummus provides the spicy heat from cayenne pepper sauce coupled with the mellow smoothness of roasted butternut squash hummus.  It also makes a terrific base for a layered veggie appetizer in the style of my Five Layer Mediterranean Chicken Dip or Layered Summer Vegetable Appetizer. Customize this hummus any way you like.  Top it with sliced celery, crumbled blue cheese, and even chunks of chicken. Scoop it up with pita chips or celery sticks or pretzels or chicken fries.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my Strategic Winter Squash Reserve (link to the photo on my FB page)  As the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share season draws to a close, I begin to stockpile winter squash, sweet and white potatoes, onions, and garlic in a cold corner of my breakfast nook.  After all the fresh greens are consumed--and before I turn to the vegetables I've canned or frozen--my SWSR is our source for farm fresh food in the dead of winter.  I started with the hummus recipe from Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (Amazon affiliate link) and added my twists based on what I thought my family would enjoy and what we had on hand.

I've revamped my Visual Recipe Index! For more ideas on what to do with your butternut squash, click here. To learn How to Use This Blog, click here. To see what other vegetable happy recipes I've found to pin, follow me on Pinterest. To see behind the scenes of my day, follow me on Instagram. For articles and other things that catch my eye, follow me on Facebook.

Visit all the other Appetizer Week participants for more Football Munching Temptations:

• Pizza Pull Apart Bread by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Grilled Guacamole by Kiss My Smoke
• Crab Layer Dip by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Easy Individual Pizzas by Call Me Pmc
• Chocolate Malta Wings by Food Done Light
• Mom's Famous Chicken Ball by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cheddar Bacon Dip by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Tamari Roasted Chickpeas by Je suis alimentageuse
• Spinach Artichoke Dip by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Chicken Wing Dip by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Microwave BBQ Meatballs by From Gate to Plate
• Pulled Pork Sliders by The NY Melrose Family
• Cheese Bean Dip by Wonky Wonderful
• Chipotle Cheese Dip by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Roasted Vegetables and Romesco Crostini by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Buffalo Ranch Cheese Ball by What's Cooking, Love?
• Buffalo Butternut Hummus by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Mini Maryland Crabcakes by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sesame Pecan Chicken Wings by Makobi Scribe
• Pina Colada Cheese Ball by Home Cooking Memories
• Roasted Tomatillo Salsaby Clarks Condensed
• Sweetly Spicy Southern Meatballs by Cooking In Stilettos
• Butternut Squash, Pomegranate & Goat Cheese Crostini by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Tex-Mex Chicken Salad Bites by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Caesar Mini Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Four Cheese Garlic Flat Bread by Try Anything Once Culinary

NOTE:  I created this recipe to be gluten free through my choice of ingredients. Check labels to confirm that your products are also gluten free. Good sources for determining that your products are gluten free can be found here:

http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/

http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Buffalo Butternut Squash Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups chick peas, cooked and drained (try Dorothy's easy slow cooker chick pea method)
• 1 cup roasted butternut squash (cut in half, scoop out the guts, add ½ cup water to a rimmed baking sheet, bake face down for 20-40 minutes at 400 degrees)
• ¼ cup tahini
• ¼ cup orange juice (I didn't have lemon or lime--but I've got Band Fruit Fundraiser Oranges to use)
• 3 to 4 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce (plus more for drizzling)
• ½ teaspoon salt to start (I use kosher) plus more to taste
• olive oil for drizzling
• optional toppings:  sliced celery, crumbled blue cheese, cubed cooked chicken
• optional dippers:  celery sticks, carrot slices, zucchini sticks, pita chips, pretzels, chicken fries

Ingredients

1. In a food processor, combine chick peas and squash.  Pulse a few times until blended together.  
2. Add tahini, orange juice, cayenne pepper sauce and salt.  Process until thoroughly combined, stopping to scrape down sides occasionally. (If you don't have a food processor, a potato masher, potato ricer, blender or food mill would work to break down the chick peas until you could stir in the remaining ingredients.)  
3. Taste to see if you'd like to add more salt or cayenne pepper sauce. 
4. Transfer to a serving container and drizzle with olive oil and more cayenne pepper sauce, or spread on a large plate and top with some of the suggestions above, or go off in your own direction.

You can find the rest of my #AppetizerWeek recipes here:
Harvest Sweet Potato Salsa 
Sriracha Butternut Squash Hummus 
Pickled Pepper & Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pinwheels 
Veggie Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites 

Want more ideas for layered vegetable appetizers? Just click on the photo to go to each recipe:



This recipe is shared with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cookin' Wednesdays, Fresh Foods Wednesday,  Food on Friday and the From The Farm Blog Hop.