I never liked hummus until I made it myself. Most brands of store-bought hummus are gritty, chemical-y, sour, or bitter. But I bought it time and time again, slathered it on freshly toasted pita, hoping that one day, I would find a brand that didn’t taste terrible.
When we moved to Oregon, I noticed something strange. At every potluck we have ever attended, there were multiple types of hummus brought to the party. Multiple. Some store-bought, some homemade. Oregonians love their hummus.
With the intention of fitting into our new culinary culture and finding something easy, nourishing, and vegetarian to eat for dinner this summer, my husband and I ended up making and eating hummus homemade nearly every night of the week.
It became an obsession: I began googling hummus recipes, always searching for the perfect recipe. It was the ideal summer food: no cooking required, cool, creamy, easy.
I was so very diligent in my search. Some would say monomaniacal. I never found the perfect recipe, but my husband created his own and it was our go-to recipe when we were too afraid to try the weird ones I had been unearthing.
His recipe included: 2 cans of beans (garbanzo, cannellini, red kidney, etc.), a rounded tsp. of sunflower seed butter, 1-2 cloves of garlic (crushed), salt and pepper to taste, the juice of one small lemon, and enough olive oil to lubricate the blending process.
We made so much hummus this summer that we broke our brand new blender. We bought it in May and it was toast by August.
Here is a list of the strangest and most delicious recipes we came across:
yellow curry and butternut squash hummus
white bean and roasted eggplant hummus
I like the way you wrote this post. You’re a good writer J.q.e.
I was thinking about you when I wrote this. You received many hummus recipes in your email inbox this summer…
Thank-you for your kind words, Tom
Hahaha! That video is hilarious! Sharing my hummus recipe here. I don’t really measure, though..I just keep adding until it tasted good
Black bean hummus:
1 can black beans (drain liquid out)
Tahini ( a few tablespoons?)
2 cloves garlic
Salt
Olive Oil
Cilantro (lots!)
1 Jalapeno with seeds removed
Throw all this yumminess into the food processor and puree. I generally start with a few tablespoons of olive oil, then add more to get the consistency right. You can never have too much cilantro. Add salt to your preference. Next time I make this I promise I will measure! It’s so easy and good..no matter how you do it.
Oh yeah, add some lemon juice, too!
not so different from our recipe. I found that I like sunflower seed butter better than tahini. It’s cheaper (last time I checked at Moc) and it’s flavor isn’t so strong.
You would probably like the cilantro lime hummus recipe I posted. I haven’t tried it, but a friend of mine did and he and his family loved it.
and we don’t measure, either. This blog is going to have tons of recipes with unmeasured ingredients. I hope their is an audience out there that will appreciate that…
I add cumin and paprika, too. Next time I’ll try not to post on only 3 hours sleep. Forgot all the details. Geesh! I’m going to try that cilantro lime recipe next time I make hummus! Thanks!
Love the Hummus Rap! So funny.
They have a rap about tabouli and other foods, I think.
Thanks for the comment, Miss Ellie!
Yes, I’m an Oregonian who loves me my hummus. I used to make hummus too until I found a few brands–Trader Joes hummus with olives is one of them–that, alas, taste better than my homemade. But I really want to try to make some these alternative hummuses (sp?).
Let me know if you try any of those recipes out, Karol. Some of them seem a little strange…