Where does this “superfood” come from & what is it.
Originally from the Middle East, this creamy Hummus dip is a really nutritious & tasty source of fiber, protein & calcium . The calcium comes mainly from the chickpeas but also the sesame seeds. It’s definitely a great & versatile addition to any meal or even a meal in itself. The supermarket versions, whilst not that bad, are nothing like as tasty or nutritious as really good home-made fresh hummus. This is because they’re trying to make it as cheaply as possible. They will use commercially produced sunflower or olive oil as opposed to good quality cold pressed oils. Equally they certainly won’t be using organic high quality tahini.
It’s not as difficult as you’d think – it’s accuracy & quality ingredients mainly.
It can appear difficult to make great tasting hummus though if you don’t know the simple secret of making it. If you have the right kit then it only takes 15 minutes to prepare. The main thing is a good food processor to make super rich, creamy, nutritious hummus. However many people who don’t know the simple techniques to getting it right turn out stodgy, grainy unappetizing versions. Because of this, they give up on it, and just buy the supermarket versions. Try this recipe, and I guarantee, you’ll never look back. The result is a super rich, super tasty hummus like you’ve never tasted before. It goes so well with my easy garlic bread, smashed potatoes, spanakopita, moussaka, shepherd’s pie, cauliflower curry, or lasagne. I’m so crazy about hummus I’ve even had it with a Thai red curry!
What’s it like nutritionally and why should you eat it at every meal!
This creamy hummus dip should really class as a super-food if there is such a thing. It’s a complete protein food, and because of the tahini & chick-peas, it is also rich in calcium. Chick-peas are very close to soya beans in terms of their amino acid profile. Because of this, they are classed as a complete protein on the WHO website. Chickpeas in fact are a perfect complete protein for adults. This is because adults only need 8 essential amino acids, whereas children need 9. So although the one that is essential for children is a bit low it is still there, and is available in other foods in any case.
When to eat it and what to eat it with!
Make sure to use this tasty nutritious source of fiber & calcium often! Once you’ve given this creamy hummus dip a go, you’ll make sure you keep some in the fridge at all times! I’ve also added in a recipe for red pepper hummus & caramelised onion hummus – so you can make one of each! I also use it liberally on toast with things like sliced avocado, baby plum tomatoes, olives, grilled artichokes, & sun-dried tomatoes. See my full list of gourmet toast combos to inspire your sourdough toast and breakfast choices!
Creamy Hummus
Ingredients
Method
- The order is important – it doesn’t turn out well if you do it in the wrong order.
- Weigh 70g of tahini directly into the food processor bowl – less mess that way.
- Squeeze the lemon juice until you have the 60ml – and pour into the processor bowl
- Blend the lemon juice and tahini for 60 secs (can do longer it’s not critical just needs to be well mixed).
- Add in 15g crushed garlic, 6g sea-salt, 35g olive oil and cumin if using.
- Blend for another 60 seconds scrape and blend for a further 60 seconds (or until very smooth). Again – can be longer.
- Add 250g of chick-peas, and blend for 5 minutes – if you use frozen chick peas, there's generally no need to scrape the sides etc as the frozen chickpeas do it. Check to see how well it's blended though.
- I love it extra smooth so I do it for even longer. However you don’t want it to get warm as this will alter the flavour. A trick here is to use the frozen chick-peas – so that the hummus doesn’t warm up in the blender! Use ear defenders though as it’s very noisy! Using ice cubes for the extra water content helps too.
- Towards the end, you can dribble in some chick-pea juice if you have it or just water until you get that creamy (but not runny) consistency. Bear in mind it will thicken up in the fridge if not used immediately, so to maintain the nice creamy texture you will need to mix in extra water/ice cubes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Red Pepper Hummus
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- You can make a douple lot of hummus as in the main recipe - and set one aside as plain or for caramelised onion hummus
- If you're making a double quantity of hummus, put one quantity of the plain hummus aside in a bowl and leave the rest in the blender.
- weigh out 100g of roasted red pepper and drain to avoid the hummus becoming too wet. I find if I don't then immediately freeze the other 200g of red peppers, then they jsut go off in the fridge - so freezing them is the smart move.
- Add the peppers to the one lot of hummus in the blender.
- Add the chilli paste, the ginger, and the paprika & soya sauce if using that.
- blend the red pepper in the food processor
- it will be slightly more sloppy than regular hummus, but will firm up in the fridge
- be careful when transferring as it will be more difficult to get into the bowl
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
Caramelised onion Hummus
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- You can make a douple lot of hummus as in the main recipe - and set one aside as plain or for red pepper hummus
- If you're making a double quantity of hummus, put one quantity of the plain hummus aside in a bowl and leave the rest in the blender.
- weigh out 80g of some preprepared caramelised onions. If you have a large batch then freezing them is a good idea as often they just go off in the fridge unless you use them quickly - so freezing them is the smart move.
- Add the caramelised onions to the one lot of hummus in the blender.
- add the soya sauce & corriander if using that
- blend the caramelised onions in the food processor until nicely smooth.
- it will be slightly more sloppy than regular hummus, but will firm up in the fridge
- be careful when transferring as it will be more difficult to get into the bowl
