The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Heavenly hummus
Divine as a dip and as a dessert
We have favorite dishes we enjoy when visiting restaurants. Professional chefs prepare them better than we could, especially international cuisines.
Today, restaurants are serving one of my favorites, hummus, the traditional dip, as a topping on a burger or as an ingredient in the dish.
I remember sampling dessert hummus at a food trade show I attended. It was quite delicious.
Recently, I was eating a prepared hummus purchased in the supermarket, read the ingredients and thought, I wonder if there is a cookbook with hummus recipes.
My search began, and I found “The Complete Hummus Cookbook: Over 100 Recipes VeganReady,” by Catherine Gill (2019, Hatherleigh Press, $20).
The book is the perfect primer, teaching easy-to-prepare, nutritious, protein-rich and veganfriendly dishes. I interviewed Gill, who grew up in New Haven.
When asked her favorite recipe, she said, “The whole book. But if I had to pick one, it would be the S’mores hummus. There’s nothing quite like the sweet smells of roasted marshmallows, melted chocolate and graham crackers. Now you can have all this in fiberpacked hummus.”
After she became a vegan, Gill was looking for non-dairy substitutes and once she found the answer in hummus, she became obsessed. It is a healthy alternative ingredient for desserts. Rather than eating a mousse made with dairy, try hummus. In writing the cookbook, she told me, she took childhood favorites and experimented making them vegan friendly.
I was surprised she prefers to use canned chickpeas rather than dry ones. However, she suggests purchasing canned that are organic and the can is BPA-free. And, make sure the only ingredients are chickpeas, water and salt, nothing else.
For more about the author, visit https://www.thedirtyvegan.com/
The book begins with a little hummus history. She writes, “While there isn’t a ton of information about the precise origins of hummus — like when exactly it was invented and by whom — historians estimate the chickpea spread first came into use in the 13th century in Egypt. At that time, chickpeas were found in abundance in the Middle East, much as they are still to this very day.”
If you are wondering what hummus means, in Arabic it is defined as “chickpea.”
It was interesting to learn about how hummus is made around the world as well as its health benefits.
From a basic hummus to recipes for roasted pepper hummus, peanut butter and jelly hummus (recipe at https://bit.ly/2UXNRPi), pumpkin spice hummus, banana walnut chocolate dessert hummus and hummus Caesar salad dressing, the versatile ingredient complements any dish, enhances the flavors of other foods, works as a sauce or can just be enjoyed on its own.
To get started in your hummus adventure, check out these recipes.
Original Hummus
The headnote says, “This is your plain, original hummus recipe which can serve as your base or be used in other recipes that call for hummus. I almost always use organic canned chickpeas in hummus recipes, simply for convenience. When doing so, you can save the juice from the can (aquafaba), which can be used as an egg replacer in many vegan recipes. Aquafaba can be stored in a Mason jar in the refrigerator for up to one week. The chickpeas in this recipe can be replaced with an equivalent amount of edamame, lentils, green peas or any other bean, pea or legume, to spice things up, if desired.”
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained,
or equivalent cooked chickpeas ¼ cup tahini
¼ cup lemon juice or juice from 1
large lemon
½ garlic clove, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt 1 to 2 tablespoons water
Using a food processor, blend all ingredients until the desired consistency is reached and hummus is well combined. Add more water to make hummus less thick or more salt to taste, if desired. Serves 8.
Tip: This hummus looks lovely with a little extra olive oil or a sprinkle of paprika garnished on top. You can also make a well in the center of the bowl of hummus and fill with chickpeas, which makes for a beautiful presentation, especially when entertaining with this dish.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
The headnote says, “This recipe’s title may make it sound complicated, but you can actually get away with making things easier on yourself by purchasing roasted red peppers in a jar instead of roasting them yourself. This recipe calls for less olive oil since roasted red peppers, whether store-bought or prepared at home, will have oil on them already from the baking process. Using roasted red bell peppers in this recipe instead of raw adds such a wonderful and savory depth of flavor to the hummus.”
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained,
or equivalent cooked chickpeas ½ cup roasted red bell peppers ¼ cup tahini
¼ cup lemon juice or juice from 1
large lemon
½ garlic clove, peeled 1 tablespoon olive oil ¼ teaspoon sea salt 1 to 2 tablespoons water
Using a food processor, blend all ingredients until the desired consistency is reached and hummus is well combined. Add more water to make hummus less thick or more salt to taste, if desired. Serves 8.
Hummus Caesar Salad Dressing
The headnote says, “This hummus dressing is a lighter (though just as delicious) version of the classic Caesar salad dressing that usually contains ingredients like egg. This light and healthy vegan version tastes amazing on salads, in wraps, as a dipping sauce and more.”
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained,
or equivalent cooked chickpeas ¼ cup tahini
¼ cup lemon juice or juice from 1
large lemon
½ garlic clove, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire
sauce
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup ¼ teaspoon sea salt
teaspoon black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons water
Using a food processor, blend all ingredients until the desired consistency is reached and hummus is well combined. Add more water to make hummus less thick or more salt to taste, if desired. Serves 8.
Banana Walnut Chocolate Dessert Hummus
This hummus reminds me of ice box cake in a way. To enjoy it like that, use graham cracker squares as dippers. This is also a great hummus to use to top pound cake or to sweeten the tops of muffins.
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained,
or equivalent cooked chickpeas 2 ripe bananas, peeled
3 dates, stems and pits removed ¼ cup walnuts
¼ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
powder
2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted ¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 to 2 tablespoons vegan milk Using a food processor, blend all ingredients until the desired consistency is reached and hummus is well combined. Add more vegan milk to make hummus less thick or more salt to taste, if desired. Serves 8
Tip: Feel free to swap ingredients in this recipe. Although walnuts go great with banana, so do pecans or other nuts. Peanuts are also a fun and delicious option to try in place of walnuts.
All recipes are excerpted from “The Complete Hummus Cookbook” by Catherine Gill. Published by Hatherleigh Press. Photos Catherine & Jason Gill.
Culinary calendar
⏩ Worth Tasting, culinary walking tour of downtown New Haven, July 18, 10:30 a.m., reservations required, 203-415-3519, $68. Enjoy tasty samplings from several of New Haven’s favorites. You won’t be hungry after this tour. Tickets at https://bit.ly/2FjiwMP
⏩ 13th annual Rhubarb Festival, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. White Silo Farm & Winery, 32 Route 37 East, Sherman, 860-355-0271. $25 per person for a two-hour reservation and includes four items made with fresh rhubarb: Pulled pork sandwich with rhubarb barbecue sauce and rhubarb slaw, strawberry rhubarb spinach salad with feta and candied pecans, homemade pretzels with rhubarb mustard and ginger rhubarb panna cotta. Vegetarian option: Panini with rhubarb jam, cheddar and arugula in lieu of pork sandwich. A tent will be set up in case of rain. Every guest must purchase a ticket. Reservations are limited and can be made at https://whitesilowinery.com/ Music with Potters Field, Saturday 2 to5:30 p.m., and the Blue Yodels, Sunday 2 to 5:30 p.m.