Hummus. A gift from the Levantine Gods! Hummus is one of both my and Charlotte's favorite foods. While discussing using hummus as a Podsnack for an upcoming recording session, we decided that it would be both fun and rewarding to learn how to make our own. I don't know about you, but in this modern day my first course of action when I'm seeking out a new recipe is to consult Pinterest. Pinterest is not 100% fail-proof and there are many websites and Buzzfeed articles that will back me up on that. Thankfully, in the case of hummus it did not fail. One quick search brought me to a great info-graphic called The Definitive Guide to Homemade Hummus. This graphic shows 14 different flavors of hummus to suit anyone's palette. They are shown in an extremely easy-to-follow and also easy-to-alter format. If you struggle with reading recipe directions, this recipes writing style might be for you! Charlotte and I browsed our options and selected 3 recipes to try: Greek (which we ended up calling "Spinach & Feta"), Pesto, and Tapenade. We used pita chips to test each flavor.
Hummus
#1: Spinach & Feta (Greek). We followed the info-graphic's
quantities to a tee. It was very simple: dump all the ingredients into a
food processor (I imagine a blender would also work if you don't have a
food processor) and blend until smooth. We ended up adding about 1
tablespoon of olive oil to get the creamy texture we desired. I quite
enjoyed this flavor of hummus, particularly the cinnamon! Charlotte and I
agreed, though, that 2 tablespoons of lemon juice made the lemon flavor
a bit too strong.
Hummus #2: Tapenade. We altered this recipe quite a bit. I was not able to find roasted red peppers when I went ingredient shopping, so we decided to just up the amount of olives and make it purely an olive hummus. We also used kalamata olives instead of black olives. We reduced the amount of lemon juice to 1 1/2 tablespoons. We both LOVED this one! If you love olives, this is the mix for you!
Hummus #: Pesto. This recipe was also altered. Unable to find a decent amount of prepared tahini sauce (the grocery store was not my friend that day. :/.), I picked up Tzaziki sauce instead. We added about 1/4 of a cup of pesto as opposed to the 2 tablespoons suggested and about 1 tablespoon of the tahini to lighten the richness of the pesto. Once again, 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice was used. This was another great mix! This was also a favorite when we brought our hummus into work to share the next day.
If you've ever thought about making your own hummus, my advice is to DO IT! It is so easy! If you desire more of a challenge, you can find a wealth of recipes that require more finesse. But if you enjoy the simplicity of dumping a handful of ingredients in a blender and having homemade hummus in minutes, look not further. It literally took us no more than 5 minutes to make each of these recipes. Once you get the hang of it, you can start experimenting with your own blends of flavors. Each of these recipes also makes a larger amount of hummus than you'd buy from the store, so you'll have plenty to share with friends or serve at a party. If you make one of these recipes, lettuce us know your thoughts! Or if you have a favorite hummus recipe that you love to make, please share it with us in a comment!
Arugalater!
Laura
