Hummus? What is hummus?
 

Whats it made out of? is it fattening? what do you do with it!?
OH YEAH, most importantly, how does it taste? :o

It is generally made out of chick peas. You usually eat it with pita bread, or crackers. There are different kinds, so they taste different. I personally like the greek olive hummus.

i eat it with veggies...

I've had chickpeas before, they're kinda bland. Do you add flavor? How do you make it? Does it taste like beans?

Fresh hummus (as opposed to store bought) is awesome. You can easily make it in a blender/food processor. It is generally chickpeas but you can use any beans you like. You can add tahini (or any nut butter), garlic and some lemon juice. Traditional hummus has olive oil but you can omit.

I often eat it as part of a sandwich spread or with veggies.

It's a strong taste, actually. Very garlicky.

The basic recipe is chick peas + garlic + tahini + cumin + lemon. Tahini is sesame butter, in case anyone's not familiar.

It is a great spread on crackers, bread, in salads, etc. I love it as a dip for veggies.

It is a nice protein source (particularly for those of us that are vegetarians) and can be combined with a variety of seasonings and veggies for a great taste :)

mmmmmm I love hummus!! its oil and chickpeas and flavor. Roasted Garlic and Jalapeno is my fav!!

How do you store it? Does it go bad fast? How much do you make at a time?
Sorry about all the questions...

I make mine with one can (440 gm from memory) of chickpeas at a time. I'm one of those fussy buggers who skins the chickpeas (tedious, but takes away the bitterness). I then throw in a couple of tablespoons of tahini, a couple of cloves (or 3) of crushed garlic, a good splash of lemon juice, some salt and cumin, and blend it.

I'm a bit of a purist, in that I think "real" hummus doesn't have any other flavouring. Otherwise it's just chickpea dip.

I make it fresh, and it doesn't have a chance to go bad in our house! I've never had to store it for more than a couple of hours in the fridge before an event or something, but once the kids get a sniff it disappears pretty quick!

It doesn't seem to go bad too fast. It doesn't last longer then a week in my house though. I make about 1 batch a week. My recipe:

2 cups of cooked garbanzos (or 1 can)
4-6 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2-1 lemon (depending on size and how lemony you like it)
1/4 cup tahini
salt to taste
a big pinch of cayenne pepper

Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor and add a bit of the cooking liquid (or liquid from can) till it's the desired consistency.

If you want to skin the garbanzos first (I only do this for "company hummus") then put the beans in a large bowl and cover with a lot of cold water. Then stick your hands in the bowl and rub the beans between your hands vigorously. The skins will float to the surface. Scoop them out of the bowl and keep doing this until hardly any skins come up the the surface. Much easier then doing it bean by bean and it makes for smoother hummus.

I like to put hummus in sandwiches (with spinach, avocado and peppers.) I also like to use it as a dip for veggies and it's good on crackers.

Mmm... hummus... what and where do I get tahini though?

Tahini is kind of like peanut butter, but thinner and made from sesame seeds. You can find it in ethnic markets (Middle Eastern or Mediterranean), but most grocery stores carry it now. It's usually in either the kosher section or in the natural foods section. Sometimes it's by the peanut butter, but not always. It'll come in either a glass jar or in a short can.

I love hummus but I'm lazy and rarely make my own. I really enjoy the Sabra brand flavors - normally found with the cheeses, milks, etc in the grocery store.

Although storebought may be good in a pinch, I wouldn't want someone's first introduction to hummus to be store bought because personally I don't like store bought hummus and think it doesn't taste very good. I can make hummus in less than 5 minutes which is why I make it at home. Sometimes even in a rush to get to work, I'll decide I want hummus and make it.

I agree I love the Sabra Garlic Hummus. Cedars used to be good too.

I don't find it fast or easy to make hummus. it's a mess.... totally.

Yeah I actually prefer store brought brands to the pain of making it at home. Very few store brands have artificial ingredients so I'm fine eating it. Forgot to mention Trader Joe's brands are good also. I applaud those who make it from scratch but just not worth it to me!

As I said, I think store bought is fine but if my first introduction to hummus was store bought, I don't know if I would've ever eaten it again. I don't know why, the taste doesn't go well with me and I've tried many brands. But overall, I'm obsessed with hummus :)

Oh and I've heard if you have a regular blender, you can use a mason jar with it, although I haven't tried it. I have a magic bullet blender which I use for things like smoothies and hummus.

I never noticed... do you have to peel canned chikpeas?

I don't.

I never knew anyone peeled chickpeas. My little blender turns everything into mush (yeah I know lovely) so no reason to peel.

I've never peeled my chickpeas when making hummus. Hm. Never even thought about it. :) I do rinse them out of the can because I think the liquid they're in is a little briney.

I also just throw mine into the Cuisineart mini-prep chopper thing and it's the perfect size for one batch. Takes me less than 5 mins to throw in a can of beans, a couple T of tahini, a squeeze of lemon, and a few garlic cloves. Sometimes I add a splash of olive oil, sometimes not. A quick whirl, and it's done.

.

What's she talking about? Bagged beans? :shrug:

Not only do store-bought hummus brands usually have more fat than they need (I do add a bit of olive oil to my homemade hummus), but they usually substitute cheaper non-olive oil. A bit of olive oil will be in there, but way down on the list.

If you try it and it doesn't thrill you, just remember that you can definitely vary the proportions. You may prefer more or less tahini, garlic, lemon juice, etc.

I was referencing what Primm posted prior to myself about skinning garbanzos. I just thought I'd share my experience on an easy way to do it.

Skinning does produce a much smoother/creamy hummus. It's a pain, which is why I only do it when I'm making hummus for a party. It's completely unnecessary for everyday hummus as far as I'm concerned. Primm mentioned the skins are bitter, although I don't find this to be true. I was just throwing a method out there, if anyone felt inclined. :D Sorry for the confusion.

And yes, I cook my garbanzo from dried beans, but canned ones will still have a skin as well.

I make mine from canned beans - rinsed but with the skins. I drain the oil on the tahini and add a little bit of 0% Greek yogurt to make it extra creamy.

I have bought both Sabra and Cedar's - I thought they were both pretty good, though not as spicy as I like.

Ah... gotcha. Thanks!

It's been years since I've made hummus. I'm putting tahini on my grocery list right now! Thanks for the reminder...

Ingrid

I make this --

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetar...ng/Detail.aspx

And, like many reviewers of this recipe have said, stuff it into a pita. Then I crisp the pita up in the oven. It's one of my favorite pita sandwiches.