Monday, July 4, 2011

Homemade Humus

It's Monday again and time to link up to two great blog linkies: MUMenTUM for the getting healthy and back into shape support, and Meal Planning Monday to make sure your week doesn't flow past in a river of fish-fingers and oven chips.

Last week I posted my weekly menu plan for a meat-free kitchen and a family of two (one who has her main meals at nursery and one who needs to lose weight). I'm not going to change this menu for a few weeks although, obvioulsy, there are days when we do something different. However, I've had requests for recipes so I'm going to write some of them up here. And when they're done I'll change the menu. How's that for a plan?

First a note about shop humus. Humus (chickpea and tehina spread) is a staple in Israel. You can buy fresh humus from take-home shops at a fair price. Tubs of superior processed humus at the supermarket for about 2pounds50 for 400g. Quite a steep price but all processed food is expensive here, which is one of the reasons I make my own. The other reason, apart from having humus at 1/10 of the price, is that you never know exactly what's in the processed stuff. The very cheapest humus costs about 1pound50 for a 1kg tub at the supermarket and it lasts for a month in the fridge - nuff said. A friend of mine once described it as whipped margerine with sugar, salt, lemon juice and garlic to diguise the taste. I noticed a few E-poisons on the label too.

Homemade Humus
Disclaimer: I love cooking and have often thought about writing a cookery book. Unfortunately I'm not very good at quantities - I tend to go by taste and texture (which is why I hated chemistry in school :-) ). So if you can cope with 'a bit of this' and 'a sprinkle of that', read on.

I buy packets of frozen chickpeas. You can get them in cans which is also fine, or soak and cook your own. I'm all for going back to basics but I don't make my own paper when I want to write someting down so frozen chickpeas works for me. I put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them to defrost and soften them, and let them sit for three minutes - about the time it takes me to get everything else into the food processor.

Put a cup of chickpeas, 2 tablespoons of tehina paste, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and 1/2tsp ground kumin into the food processor and pulse it until you have a lumpy paste. Add water to thin it to the consistency of runny cake mix as it will thicken up in the fridge over the next few hours (did I mention that it's best made in advance?). It's all a matter of taste, some like it more lemony and some like more garlic. You can also throw in some parsley for a green humus.

Serve spread in a flattish dish. You can pour more olive oil over the top and sprinkle with za'ata (ground hyssop) or cayenne pepper, or pine nuts, lemon wedges, or parsley. You can eat it with bread or crackers or as a dressing for salad. A Middle Eastern delicacy involves a serving of fried mincemeat and onions on the humus. My favourite? Humus on toast topped with leftover ratatouile.

So what about this week's MUMenTUM. Well, following my menu plan and not noshing in the evening has led to a 0.6kg loss this week. This is 2.6kg (5.7lbs) in two weeks. Smug? You bet!

19 comments:

  1. I've mentioned homemade Hummous (Humus?) in my MUMenTUM post this week too - I just blended the chickpeas with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice & some red pepper pesto - everyone loved it.

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  2. Helen - as with the spelling, the recipe can be made to your liking. I forgot to mention that many people add a kick of something hot like chilli peppers. Thanks for your comment, I must go and read your post now :)

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  3. Wow that's a fantastic weight loss, you should indeed be smug! I shall have to try making some with the chick peas that have been sat in my cupboard for ages, I love it! x

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  4. I love Hummus. So easy to make and far superior to the shop bought stuff! x

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  5. Thanks MATBeastie - The first week is always the easiest in which to lose. The challenge will be keeping it up over a longer period. Thanks for commenting.

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  6. Thanks Wendy, yes far superior and far cheaper and, as you say, so easy to make. It's a win, win win situation - except if you are a humus manufacturer.

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  7. I have never made it but it sounds good,i will have to try it :)

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  8. Clairejustine - hope you like it, let me know. Thanks for commenting.

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  9. Oh I'm so pleased you are going to be sharing some of your recipes with us :)

    Well done on your weight loss, that's fantastic!

    Hope you have a great week :) x

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  10. Great news on the weight loss and I need to go and buy a food processor.

    Have a great week

    Dianne x

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  11. Thanks Carole. BTW - I've tried to comment on your blog but you don't have a name/url option. Google account just gets me into a loop.

    Dianne - yes a food processor is essential. I did without one for years, Mrs Bridges didn't need one so why do I? Then I noticed I was avoiding certain recipes so I bought one. It changed my life and led to lots of healthier cooking.

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  12. Thanks for the recipe. It's time I tried this.

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  13. Oy that's my recipe ;)
    There is no doubt that homemade hummous is so much better than the shop bought variety. It's so easy to make that there is little point in buying the margarine mascarading as hummous that you can find in the supermarket. I buy the dry arbes (that's chickpeas for non-Yiddish speakers) and soak them overnight. If Amichai likes the way I make, it must be good.

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  14. Yes I think it is your recipe David. Thanks for that - maybe you should become a foodie blog.

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  15. The problem with home made hummous is that it does not last long - unlike the shop bought version - but that is exactly why I do not want to eat the shop bought one - too many preservatives. I go through months of making it religiously every Friday - sometimes with canned beans, sometimes by soaking and boiling them - and then freezing some for future weeks. Then something happens and I stop one week and it takes me for ever to get back into the routine of making it. At the moment I am on a hummous hiatus.

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  16. Janice - I didn't know you could freeze it so thanks for that info. I know what you mean - it's a mindset thing to get out the processor, knowing it'll need cleaning afterwards, etc... But it's worth it though - think of all the preservatives!

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  17. I can speak for Janice's hummous. It is very yummy.
    Thanks for the recipe.

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