Hummus is something that I cannot survive without. I find it especially soothing during stressful times (emotional eater here), bouts of depression, hermitting phases (battling through the last week of classes), and when the munchies kick in full throttle. Hummus is creamy, thick, velvety, and rich in flavour, it’s comfort food at its best…being both nutritious (protein, fibre, B vitamins, minerals etc!) and appetizing. No wonder so many, myself included, are enamoured with it…causing even a war!
The historical origin of hummus has not been pinpointed, but naturally most presume that it started somewhere in the Middle East (however its past usage has been documented throughout the Mediterranean and even India). Sources insist the untraceable origins are due to the Middle Eastern traditions of handing recipes down from one generation to the next instead of using published cookbooks. Today, the origin of hummus is still a point of contention between the Israelis and Lebanese who both vehemently claim ownership of the chickpea dish. The “Hummus War” has been going on for several years with both sides trying to win the title of World’s Best/Largest Hummus dish. This year, 300 Lebanese chefs captured the title with 23,042 pounds of hummus! Lebanon is currently trying to get the European Union to approve hummus as their national dish (much like Greece’s feta cheese and England’s Devon Cream Tea) since they believe that Israeli production and exportation is causing their companies to loose large earning potentials.
Why not try making this traditional dish yourself? If you can make a smoothie, you can make hummus (see my recipe below)! It literally takes less time to whip up a batch than to look presentable and walk to the grocery store to pick some up. But if you really must go out and purchase hummus, I love Sunflower Kitchen’s Hummus produced here in Toronto (less carbon footprint – sorry Israel and Lebanon!). SK’s hummus has no artificial preservatives or flavors, it’s GMO free, trans fat free, and they don’t add a whole slew of foreign unrecognizable ingredients that many brands contain. Just simply chick peas, tahini, water, sunflower oil, garlic, citric acid, and sea salt.
Humming Hummus – Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 can (16 oz) of organic chickpeas rinsed (or 2 cups of cooked chickpeas)
- 1 medium avocado (optional)
- 1/4 cup of filtered water
- 1/2 lemon juiced (approx 3-5 tablespoons)
- 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (a la Rachel Ray – EVOO)
- 2 tablespoons of Tahini (sesame paste)
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
Method:
- Blend all ingredients together.
- Chill for 1 hour.
- Eat and be merry!
Pair with some organic blue tortilla chips, warm pita bread, spread on sandwiches, dunk veggies in them, put it on your steamed veggies and brown rice or salads….anything your heart desires….or you can eat it straight from the tub! You can keep this in the fridge for 5 days…but I wonder if there would even be any left by then? (or maybe I just have low self-control)
[Picture courtesy of stock.xchng: aweek's]
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