My first attempt at cooking with jalapeño peppers, or any form of hot pepper for that matter, ended in disaster. The food turned out delicious. I can’t remember what it was, but I’m sure it was delicious. The disaster part pertains to the agony I experienced throughout the rest of the day. My hands, face, eyes and nose all sizzled away. This had nothing to do with me eating the peppers, but just from touching them while cooking. See, the thing about hot pepper burns is this: they sneak up on you. So by the time you realize you’ve got a problem, you’ve already been handling the peppers for a good ten or fifteen minutes, so you know things are only going to get worse. On that particular occasion I also developed some annoying sneezing and eye burning, which of course drove me to start rubbing my eyes and blowing my nose, only leading to the juices burning my hands to end up in my eyes and nose as well. It was really bad. I remember thinking the meal was fantastic but being absolutely miserable while eating it. I must have really liked that jalapeño flavor though, because here I am sharing a recipe for jalapeño hummus. I’m more careful now, and this stuff is so delicious that it’s definitely worth the risk. Even though this hummus is made with jalapeños, the very pepper that caused me so much misery, it’s not all that spicy (unless you use super spicy peppers — see my notes below!). Briefly popping the peppers under the broiler mellows them out a bit, so you get a little heat, and tons of flavor. After broiling, let the peppers cool for a bit, and then remove the skins. They should come off easily. While the peppers cool, blend up your hummus. This hummus uses lime juice instead of lemon, because it goes so well with the jalapeño flavor. Add the peppers and blend again. You can keep them chunky or blend until smooth. Grab some pita bread or chips, and dig in! Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
