No - it is not an off-roading gas guzzler nor is it any geographical entity, it is a mid-eastern protein packed spread that is considered one of the oldest prepared food known to mankind. The 2 main ingredients of hummus are chickpeas and sesame - both are extremely healthy and a nutritionist’s dream. In fact, the early rise and spread of the Mesopotamian civilization is attributed to the nutritional benefits of hummus. Whoa! I would have never connected or even imagined, that a success of a civilization could be due to food. There are times when I feel good about blogging, like when I meet new friends with similar interest or when I am exploring new (to me, that is) and different culture, and in turn, food. What I learnt about hummus made me realize why blogging is not just fun but also educational.

Hummus

I made not one, but 3 varieties of hummus - the plain (or vanilla) one, sun-dried tomato hummus and roasted red-pepper hummus. The base canvas for all three is the same, start with the regular, old-fashioned (in this case, quite literally) hummus. You will need:

  • 1 cup of pre-soaked, pressure-cooked chickpeas (reserve the water used in cooking)
  • 5 tsp of sesame butter (tahini)
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tsp of salt

Blend chickpeas , tahini in the food-processor along with lemon juice, EVOO and garlic. Add some reserved water, if it is too thick, and mix in the salt, add more or less depending on your palette. (Thanks m’s mom!)

Drain the contents in a bowl and drizzle few drops of EVOO on top and add some olives for garnish.

Sun-dried Tomato Hummus: Soak 4-5 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes. Chop them and add it to the plain hummus, and mix it well. Add a few more on top for garnish

Roasted red-pepper Hummus: Chop roasted red-peppers and add it to the plain hummus, and mix it well. Add a few more on top for garnish.

Notes:

  1. For a stronger flavor, you can blend the sun-dried tomato or red-pepper along with the hummus.
  2. To know how to roast red-pepper @ home, check this post.