2014-01-13
in
4 min read
Hummus to me seems like one of those impossible foods: something that is good for you, tastes great and easy to make. I wasn’t actually sure about that third point until today, when I tried my hand at making hummus for the first time. The results were so outstanding that I think I will add this to the list of things that I will continue to just make from scratch at home from now on.
The recipes for hummus all have pretty standard components: chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini paste, lemon juice and some other spices or ingredients. Most of them have you just throw everything into the food processor and out comes hummus. Before starting to try this recipe I decided to consult Chef Google one more time and I found a recipe that claimed to make hummus with the exact same sort of texture that you would get from store bought hummus. With that I had to try it out. So thank you Inspired Taste for this great recipe!
The ingredients list I used (which matches theirs pretty well was) to make a batch (makes 2 cups of hummus):
- 1 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans/chickpeas
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1.5 tablespoons of additional water.
I always thought this was something you’d make in a little mini food processor. In fact you actually need the full sized one. Early on the extra size kind of works against you, but it all ends up fine in the end. You start by adding a quarter cup of lemon juice and a quarter cup of tahini paste to the food processor. The recipe called for the juice of one freshly squeezed lemon. While I’m sure that may make a subtle difference, I wasn’t expecting the lemon to be the dominant taste in my garlic hummus. Before pouring the tahini paste out, be sure to stir it as a thick layer of oil is probably formed on top as well. If you are having problems finding tahini paste, look in the Asian or International section of your grocery store or find a local international market.
The first thing we are going to do is whip together the lemon and the tahini paste. You run the machine for about a minute, and then scrape the sides down with a spatula. You then run it again for another minute. This helps make a lighter texture. You next add the chopped garlic, cumin, salt and olive oil to the mixture. To amp up the flavor even more I used a garlic infused olive oil. On the machine went for another 30 seconds, then scrape the sides down, then run it again for 30 seconds. What you will have at the end of this is something that looks something like hummus, but you haven’t even added the beans yet.
Open the can and pour it into a colander or sieve. Rinse off the gloppy syrupy juice that they come in really well, then shake off the excess water. Add about half of the beans and run for 30 seconds. After that scrape down the sides and add the rest of the beans. Run for another couple of minutes. At this point you have hummus, but the question is if you like the consistency. For me at this point it was more of a paste. The original recipes calls for gradually adding one to two tablespoons to the mixture until it gets to the consistency you like. I added about 1.5 tablespoons before it loosened up to my liking.
The flavor is incredibly garlic intense, as you’d imagine. I promptly ate a good half cup with some celery and carrots. I could have had a bunch more if dinner wasn’t going to be within an hour or so. The ingredients all lead to a food that is also very healthy, and of course free from any preservatives or other additives. With this recipe with a half cup serving you get lots of vitamins and minerals, 22% of your daily fiber intake and 7 grams of protein. It is a bit high on the salt (15% of your daily value) but you can take the salt out.
As I stated before, this is so good and so easy to make that not only do I think I will avoid store bought from now on, but I can see this becoming a staple snack food for me as well:
