Hummus: A Nutritional Powerhouse

People have been eating hummus in the Middle East for thousands of years. In the U.S., it was mainly consigned to Lebanese markets and health food stores until a few decades ago, when people discovered how delicious this nutritional powerhouse (It's loaded with fiber, protein, vitamins and healthy fats) can be. Today, it takes up quite a bit of supermarket real estate. It’s still relatively expensive, though, given the minimal cost to make it, and the quality varies quite a bit by brand.

Bearing that in mind, hummus is worth making yourself. It meets all my criteria for food I like to make at home: it is nutritious, it’s quick and cheap to make, and it uses pantry ingredients. If you have a food processor, it takes seconds to make, but if you have a good blender, you can use that by processing it in batches. And, thousands of years of hummus consumption will testify to the satisfactory results of mashing by hand. No matter how you make it, it's pretty quick. I like the results better when I cook the chick peas from scratch, but I always keep canned on hand for when I want instant gratification.

Once you have the basic hummus, you can do lots of different things with it. Just looking at the extensive selection at the market will give you lots of ideas for flavorings. I like lemon, olive or jalapeno flavored, with roasted red pepper as my absolute favorite. These flavors are easily achieved at home simply by chopping up your favorites and mixing them in or spooning them on top of the hummus when you serve it.  Easy peasy. Another of my favorite ways to use hummus is to spread a layer at the bottom of my Greek salad instead of using dressing. It makes a great veggie wrap, too.

Other flavorings (feel free to add your favorite in comments): cilantro, pesto, dill, zaatar spice, spinach & artichoke, pine nuts, roasted garlic, scallion, cucumber. You can also make hummus out of white beans instead of chick peas. You can add yogurt in place of some of the oil to make it creamier and lower in fat. Everybody’s hummus is different, and in fact, every batch of hummus is different. Once you have made it a few times, you will know exactly how you like it, but until then, add each ingredient gradually until it tastes the way you like it. I’ll give you a range of amounts to add of each ingredient, but feel free to stray outside that range. If you love garlic, add more. Not crazy about cumin? Add less. It’s your hummus, make it how you like it.

The recipe:

About 2 cups or 1 can of chick peas, drained but liquid reserved

Juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon

1-3 cloves garlic

1-3 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 tsp ground cumin

1-3 tbsp tahini (strength of flavor varies by brand. Runnier brands tend to be milder than ones with peanut butter consistancy.)

salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the chick peas as shown in pictures until very tender. When cool (I usually cook the chick peas a day in advance) add to food processor with the minimum amount of each ingredient. Process to a rough paste and taste. Add more of each ingredient as needed, but you will definitely need more liquid. If you don't want to add more lemon or oil, use the bean cooking liquid or water. Yogurt can also be used, but will change the texture to make it creamier. The hummus will thicken up in the fridge, so be sure to make it a little thinner than you think it should be to begin with.