hardy hearts…, brainy brains…, hummus reigns…
By Joey Driven
February 15, 2014
March 21, 2014 update
March 21, 2014 update
About hummus, happy news is: 1. no bad news; and 2. an abundance of good news. Here is an expose in praise of this Arabic delight followed by two recipes for hummus: one with a garlic presence, and another with the electricity of chili peppers.
Hummus is a Middle Eastern food that is a purée of chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), tahini (a paste of ground sesame seeds), garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Hummus ranges from a thin to thick creamy consistency and is served as a dip, spread, side dish or topping for salad greens. And hummus is an ingredient in other recipes, such as in pasta sauce and as a tastier substitute dressing for egg salad and chicken salad.
Homemade hummus is a thoughtful dish for a party or potluck meal, as well as for meals and snacks at home, on picnics, day trips, and in the lunch box. The dip and spread is scrumptious with your favorite crackers and chips. Also for an anytime delectable alternative to tossed salads, fresh, cut-to-dip pieces of red bell pepper, broccoli and cauliflower florets, celery, cucumber, zucchini, as well as whole cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas are all-the-munchier with hummus. And when you crave a tossed salad, hummus is a key ingredient for a healthy, homemade salad dressing (hummus, olive oil, Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, and honey).
Hummus, an Arabic word (الحمص) (hummus) meaning ‘chickpeas’, is thought to have been a traditional Middle East prepared recipe going back in recorded history at least 900 years [1]. The full Arabic name for hummus (الحمص مع الطحينة) (hummus bi tahina), means ‘chickpeas with tahini’ [1]. Among other spellings for hummus in the English language are hommus, hummous, hommos, humos, and hoummos and (in British English) houmous [1].
Hardy hearts…, brainy brains…, hummus reigns. Hummus, especially fresh homemade hummus s highly nutritious in that it has fiber, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, Vitamin B6, folic acid, thiamin, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, and protein [3].
The high monounsaturated fat in olive oil [3] is a healthy dietary fat that regulates cholesterol and may lower the risk of heart disease, normalize blood clotting, benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control [5]. The omega 3’s in hummus contributes to wellness in the cardiovascular system, nervous system, and joints [7]. And American Institute for Cancer Research early lab tests show three compounds in beans (saponins, protease inhibitors, and phytic acid) may defend cells from a type of genetic damage that can lead to cancer [4].
Hummus is deemed healthy enough to have been included among 150 recipes in The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook [6]. And hummus made from all natural, organically grown and prepared ingredients is all the more good for your health, a wellness food with low sodium and with no cholesterol or other ingredients that are unhealthy [3].
homemade hummus
If you like to put culinary dishes together that are good for body, soul and mind, making homemade hummus is as easy as whipping up a smoothie. Here is one way to bliss and with a sly way to nourish the kids with fresh veggies:
zesty hummus
wannabe winner: ‘garlic gonzoz anonymous’ blue ribbon
118 ml (½ cup) peeled,
chopped fresh garlic cloves (more or less garlic based on garlic-valor)
118 ml (½ cup) peeled,
chopped fresh white onion
118 ml (½ cup) chopped fresh
red bell pepper (or carrots)
118 ml (½ cup) chopped
fresh tender asparagus spears (or zucchini)
4 439 gram cans cooked
chick peas (chick peas from a can have been cooked)
79 ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
5 ml (1 tsp.) sea salt (or to taste)
5 ml (1 tsp.) ground black pepper (or to taste)
178 ml (¾ cup) tahini
Here
is a process of putting all this together:
Wash
and chop the fresh vegetables.
In
a food processor, mince garlic, onion, red bell pepper and zucchini.
In
a blender puree the minced vegetables.
In
the blender with the puréed vegetables, blend in the olive oil, lemon juice,
sea salt, black pepper, and tahini.
In
the food processor chop the cooked chickpeas into a mash.
Then
in the blender purée the chickpea mash with the purée of the other ingredients. If the blender does not have the volume to handle the entire recipe,
If the batch seems too thick,
add 60 ml (1/8 cup) water or chickpea juice, then purée, again.
Repeat, and even again, until
the hummus is near the consistency you desire knowing it will thicken slightly
when refrigerated.
The above recipe makes about
1.9 litres (8 cups) of hummus, enough for about 3 to 4 party dip bowls.
hummus keeps well
frozen
When properly
frozen, hummus freshness, taste and texture will be maintained for up to four
months [8]. Place fresh hummus in a freezer-safe container, add a thin layer of
olive oil to the top to hold in moisture, seal lid, or zip seal, and place in
the freezer [8].
As a food
safety measure, thaw hummus in the refrigerator [8]. When frozen, hummus solids separate from its oils, therefore
before serving, spoon mix thawed hummus [8].
Other ingredients can be separately added to smaller amounts of this batch of hummus to alter the flavor. In the following simple adaptation, the strong garlic zest jumps with the chili pepper joltage. Another path to bliss:
Here you go garli-chili-addicts, a way to add electricity by adding fresh minced assorted chili peppers. This involves preparing the minced peppers, adding a safe amount to the zesty hummus, and storing the rest of the minced peppers in the refrigerator and/or freezer.
Courtesy of chilipeppermadness.com the following is data on the four chili peppers in this recipe:
Jalapeño chili pepper (2,500 - 8,000 Scovilles) is the most popular chili pepper harvested at about 4-6 inches long with a diameter of about one inch when green or red ripe [9].
Fresno chili pepper ( 2,500-10,000 Scovilles), at about 2-3 inches in length with a diameter of about one inch, looks and tastes almost like a jalapeño, only much hotter. Fresno peppers change from green to red as they grow, and increase in hotness, although they are often harvested and sold as green [9].
Serrano chili pepper (5,000 - 23,000 Scovilles), a smaller version of the jalapeno, grows to 1 to 2 inches long and ½ inch wide and is meaty and commonly red, brown, orange, or yellow _perfect for salsas, sauces, relishes, garnishes, and more. [9].
Habanero chili pepper (100,000 - 350,000 Scovilles) is on the lower end of ‘heat’ intensity of the super-hot peppers with yellow-orange, orange or bright red color, depending upon time harvested. The average size is 1 to 2 ½ inches long and 1 to 2 inches diameter and tam-shaped [9].
zingy hummus
Ingredients for furthest star™ zingy hummus are:
474 ml (2 cups)
2 Jalapeño chili pepper
2 Fresno chili pepper
2 Serano chili pepper
2 Habenero chili pepper
Only a small amount of the above chili peppers will be added to the zesty hummus, otherwise there will be a meltdown.
The rest of the minced pepper shall be refrigerated and/or frozen for other uses.]
Wash and chop the assortment of chili peppers.
Minced these chopped peppers in the food processor.
Transfer minced peppers to small freezer-safe container(s) at a volume of about 175 ml (6 ounces) per container. This is an amount you could later thaw and use before the minced peppers lose their freshness.
Add 25 ml (1 ½ tablespoons) minced chili peppers to 474 ml (2 cups) furthest star™ zesty hummus and mix very thoroughly with a spoon. After refrigerating for a few hours, mix again.
more info on chili peppers in this recipe
You likely have more than enough minced chili peppers. If you love their electricity and health benefits, minced chili peppers is great in other recipes, of course in chili. And try ½ to 1 ½ tablespoons minced chili peppers per 3 cups of marinara _it’s a Sicilian tradition.
On the web pages of http://www.chilipeppermadness.com, many species and varieties of chili peppers are shown and described. From your experiences and from information on this web site, you could select the chili peppers that you would prefer. In addition to other neat information, this site explains the ways chili peppers are also beneficial to your health!
hummus garnishes
If you want to elevate the zesty or zingy hummus experience, garnish the center of a dip or spread with sun dried tomatoes or a blend of olive oil, sea salt, and fresh minced garlic.
Mâchonner entièrement…, savourez le gout!!!
Joey Driven is an American lyricist, composer, singer, guitarist, screenwriter, fiction and non-fiction author, and performing artist with furthest star media™.
Contact Joey Driven via e-mail at joeydriven@gmail.com.
For more savory furthest star™ recipes, visit http://www.furthest-star-recipes.blogspot.com.
Joey Driven recordings and media information: http://www.reverbnation.com/joeydriven, http://www.soundcloud.com/joey-driven.
references
7. The Omega-3 Connection, Andrew L. Stoll, MD, Simon and Schuster, ©2001
© 2014 Joey O’Loingsigh Driven
