Artificial Food Coloring Free Crudités with Hummus
Store-bought dips and packaged snack platters are some of the sneakiest sources of synthetic dyes — bright orange cheese sauces, vividly colored dressings, and pre-made hummus tubs can all hide artificial colorants you'd never expect. This platter sidesteps all of that by building everything from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients. The hummus comes together in a food processor with chickpeas, tahini, garlic-infused oil, fresh lemon juice, and a touch of cumin — nothing artificial, nothing mysterious. That gorgeous reddish-orange dusting on top? Pure smoked paprika, which brings a subtle smokiness and visual drama the natural way. The vegetables surrounding it — crisp carrots, celery, bell pepper, cucumber, and radishes — are as colorful as any dyed snack spread, just without the synthetic shortcuts. It's the kind of crowd-pleasing appetizer that looks impressive on a platter but takes almost no effort to pull together, and you can feel genuinely good about setting it out for kids and adults alike.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the hummus
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp garlic-infused oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- 2–3 tbsp ice water
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
For the crudités
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
- 2 medium stalks celery, cut into sticks
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 medium cucumber, sliced into rounds or spears
- 6 radishes, trimmed and halved
For serving
- 1 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Add the drained chickpeas, tahini, garlic-infused oil, lemon juice, cumin, and salt to a food processor. Process for about 1 minute, until the mixture is roughly combined and paste-like.
- 2
With the processor running, drizzle in the ice water one tablespoon at a time, processing for 2–3 minutes total, until the hummus is very smooth and creamy and holds a soft peak when a spoon is lifted through it. Scrape down the sides as needed.
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