Vegan Lunch #4 – Thursday – The Many Hues of Hummus

Oh hummus – you are perhaps the perfect food! You are healthy, easy to make and so much fun to flavor and embellish in many different ways! You are often there at restaurants for vegans when there is nothing else to order. You are loaded with protein and all good things and you are great on your own, in sandwiches, in salads or used as dip for crudite or crackers. I just can’t get enough of you!

Now that I have paid homage to hummus – I can continue and post my basic hummus recipe and all the different variations that I love. It is so much fun to give it to my kids for lunch because they never know what color or flavor to expect! And actually, hummus is without a doubt my son’s favorite food – so this post is dedicated to him!

Basic Hummus

ingredients for basic hummus recipe

2 15 oz boxes or cans chickpeas, drained – but reserve liquid
3 T tahini
1/2 t salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T olive oil
1/4 c of the reserved liquid

Place all ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and process/blend until creamy. (I love my vitamix for making hummus). You may need to add a bit more of the reserved liquid, 1 T at a time, to get the consistency you want. Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

For this lunch, I added kale, tomato and avocado to the sandwich and served it with a banana and some brownies.

I love this basic hummus just as it is. It really doesn’t need anything more at all! However, it’s always fun to spice it up! So, here are some ideas for unique and really tasty additions.

To make these hummus varieties, add the following to 1/2 c of basic hummus (I use an immersion blender to do this, but you can use a food processor. The blender, however, will not work for this because the amount is too small, unless you are flavoring more than one 1/2 c serving at a time.

Herbal Hummus

Herbal Hummus – add a handful of greens – basil, cilantro, parsley, spinach, kale (I used kale and parsley tonight) – or any combination of them – you can’t go wrong.

Black Truffle Hummus

Black Truffle Hummus – add 1/4 t black salt (available at specialty stores) and 1/4 t truffle oil. For this variation, you can omit the salt in the basic recipe.

Dill Pickle Hummus

Dill Pickle Hummus – add about 5 pickle slices and 1 t fresh dill or 1/4 t dried dill

Beet and Sage Hummus

Beet and Sage Hummus – add 1 1/2 t beet juice and 1/8 t ground sage

Sun-dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Hummus

Sun-dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Hummus – add 4 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, and about 1/2 bulb of roasted garlic – note: my family loves garlic – if you want it milder, add less. To roast garlic, cut the top off a bulb of garlic to expose the cloves. Rub it with a little olive oil and salt and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in oven on 400 for 40 minutes.