On May 13th, join millions of people around the world in celebrating their love for hummus. Consume, share, celebrate and profess your love for this special food.
What is Hummus?
Hummus is an ancient recipe straight from the Middle East. It is a combination of chickpeas and acids pureed into a paste and spread on bread, chips of varying types and vegetables. It’s also often seen as a dip for these items, too.
In the US and other Western countries, hummus takes a great many forms. With the recent rise in popularity, hummus can be found in simple forms with just chickpeas with maybe a vegetable or two for flavoring, or in “multi-layer” style hummuses with more ingredients than the label has room for.
A History of Hummus
According the Hummus Day website, the history of hummus is well, a little on the vague side. Indeed, chickpeas in various mashes and purees were popular for thousands of years in the Middle East. These little legumes were easily grown even in the strongest of heat and made up a large portion of both animal feeds and casual human meals. With the lentil, the chickpea is one of the strongest protein sources in a great deal of older Middle Eastern recipes.
Some of the earliest chickpeas found in human history date back to the 6700 B.C.E, though this must be noted that these were wild chickpeas. Wild chickpeas are a little hardier than the domesticated chickpea of today, though the outer shell was a bit harder and the protein percentage wasn’t quite as high.
We have an official date for hummus being recorded in Cairo around the 1209 C.E date, however, we must remember that recipes often sprout up long before they’re officially recorded. With high trade happening, especially in the Middle East, long before this it’s safe to assume that hummus, as we know it today, was likely produced around 1000 C.E. That’s right, we’re likely looking at a very large window before the popular paste was named, recorded and cemented as a common food in the area.
So what made hummus appear in the first place? Chickpea production was very common and, typically, common foods remain just that. They are rarely elevated and rarely receive notoriety, much less lasting through the many centuries to become popular at such a late date. Hummus was a simple food, but it was the citrus that really made it pop.
Around the time that hummus became popular, the chickpea was both well beloved and easily available regardless of the season. Lemons were much the same, with a very long shelf-life even after the season had long passed. The marriage of these two ingredients, along with other common things, became a quick and popular snack. For some, it was even capable of being a meal with a little pita or other flatbread.
Once hummus became popular enough for inclusion in such expensive productions as books, the dish really began to expand. Chickpeas were a great trade legume for those outside the region who did not have ready access to them and with that trade went hummus. The spice trade was also a great assistance to hummus’s spread, given that spices such as cumin are often added to the paste. Hummus stored very well for passages and it was a great way to show off chickpeas, citrus fruit, and spices all at once. Today Hummus can be found all over the world in as many flavors as can be dreamed.
Is Hummus a Superfood?
Whether you’re a foodie expert or someone checking out a plant based diet for beginners, hummus is an indispensable ingredient. Packed with all 3 vital macronutrients, as well as a healthy dose of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, hummus provides a delicious and filling nutritional boost that will energize your plant based diet food list. Here’s a quick breakdown of what a 3.5-ounce serving will do for you:
- 175 calories
- 20 grams of complex carbohydrates
- 5 grams of whole protein
- 8.5 grams of heart healthy fats
- 4 grams of dietary fiber
- A vitamin cornucopia of manganese, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, phosphorus, and copper, iron, magnesium, zinc, thiamin, calcium, and potassium
Especially when you’re on a plant based diet, you want to make sure you’re getting enough protein. Any plant based diet recipes should include protein, to make sure that your muscles are well fueled… and that’s where hummus comes to the rescue!
How to Make Your Own Hummus
Making hummus is pretty simple. It’s a fantastic thing for kids to make as well as those who are a little uncertain in the kitchen–or even for those who want to save a little cash and make their own.
We can start with a simple, plain hummus recipe:
- Start with a large can of chickpeas, approximately 29 oz. A few ounces either way won’t make much difference in this recipe, so don’t stress too much if you can only find a 26.9 oz can.
- Drain the chickpeas and rinse well. There is typically a good deal of salt in a can of chickpeas and we don’t want our hummus to be too salty. Add these to a 6 cup food processor. Blitz them a few times to make them a little easier to deal with.
- To the food processor add about 1/4-1/2 cup of tahini. Tahini is also known as sesame paste. If you have trouble locating this item, try your local Asian and Middle Eastern grocery stores. If it is listed as sesame paste it will work just as well as any other tahini. Dark sesame paste may also be used in a pinch but do be aware that it will dye your hummus a darker color.
- Again, pulse these ingredients a few times. We aren’t looking for a smooth paste yet, but lightly pre-mixing these ingredients does help out.
- Add 1/2 as much olive oil to your food processor as you added tahini. For example, if you added 1/4 cup of tahini, add 1/8th cup of olive oil. I prefer to use a garlic flavored olive oil or sunflower oil. The type of oil (not including canola) isn’t quite as important, but olive oil is the traditional type. Once you’ve made this basic recipe a few times, I suggest trying other types of oils or even flavored oils. See what you like best.
- Puree this into a paste. If the paste is not coming together, add a little bit more oil. Is it too thin? Add a little more tahini.
- Once you have your paste, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. If you like, you may also add a few cloves of garlic to taste as well. The best thing about hummus is that you’re unlikely to “over paste” your snack. You can keep adjusting for quite some time without any issue.
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Photo Credit: DronG / Shutterstock.com