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What is hummus?
A staple of the Mediterranean diet, hummus is one of these things I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For those of you who know me, that says a lot, as I do not like eating the same thing twice in a row…
I use it as a dip for vegetables, pita bread or chips, as a spread in sandwiches, wraps or burgers . It’s particularly good with portobello burgers or salmon burgers), or as a base for a salad dressing. Some people even use it as a pasta sauce or in deviled eggs, but I’ve never tried that myself. Sometimes I just grab a spoonful with nothing else…
I confess I’ve been guilty once in a while of buying some ready-made hummus at the grocery store for a quick fix to my craving… But honestly, making it at home is so easy and so much better.
How to make hummus
It is made of only 5 basic ingredients one should always keep on hand: chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), tahini (a sesame paste), garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. My recommendation for a great tasting tahini: https://amzn.to/3MxSjwM
The beauty of making it yourself is that you control what you put in it. No artificial ingredient, more or less salt depending on your taste and dietary needs, more or less garlic, more or less lemon juice, more or less tahini…
If you like cooking your chickpeas “from scratch”, be my guest, but frankly I’ve tried it and IMHO it’s not worth the hassle. Canned organic chickpeas with no added ingredients except salt and water are easy to find and work perfectly in this recipe.
The only tool you need is a good food processor or blender. Here is my new favorite, easy to clean and to store: https://amzn.to/2Kpt9py
Once you have honed in on the basic formulation that meets your personal taste, you can experiment adding other stuff to it: roasted bell peppers, red pepper paste to make it spicy, spinach or some other green leaf to make it green, beets to make it pink, the possibilities are endless. They even sell chocolate hummus nowadays – granted not so healthy as it has sugar in it – but tasty nonetheless.
So get that food processor or blender out and give it a try!
Other recipes to try:
Sun-dried tomato and basil hummus
Hummus
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (= one 16oz can, drained)
- 2 ea garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (= juice of 1 lemon)
- 1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
- 3 tbsp water or juice from the can
- paprika, sumac or zaatar seasoning for garnish
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for garnish
Instructions
- Chop garlic in food processor.
- Add chickpeas and all other ingredients.
- Process until smooth.
- Check consistency and add more water if needed. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Drizzle with more olive oil and a dash of paprika, sumac or zaatar before serving.
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I recently made your homemade hummus. It was delicious and was wondering if it freezes well? After eating for 4 days in a row, (today is day 4) I was hoping I didn’t have to throw out the rest but could eat it at a later time. Btw, how long an you typically keep homemade hummus in a refrigerator?
You can DEFINITELY freeze it, Michelle! I do it all the time, it’s so convenient. Just thaw it overnight in your refrigerator and stir it well before eating. I keep mine in the fridge up to 4 days.