hoummous, easy recipe, vegan, vegetarian, tasty

Instead of the raw food mock hoummous on the previous post, you might prefer to try the real thing. I confess I love hoummous, either with crackers, or for dipping cruditees in, or drizzled over falafel and salad - I used to love this stuffed into a pitta bread when I could eat wheat, but have to forgo that pleasure now.

Years ago, in Paris, whilst on a family holiday, we spent virtually every lunchtime at a falafel stall, I think it was on the Rue de Hachette, or somehing very similar, where, for 2 francs you received a few falafel in a pitta, and could then stuff it with the various salads and pickles on the front of the stall. Wonderful value, and very tasty. However, I digress (most unlike me!)

Hoummous:

1 tin of chick peas, drained, but reserve a couple of tablespoons of the liquid from the can
1 lemon, juice (and if it's an unwaxed lemon, the zest as well)
1 tablespoon of Tahini (if you don't have any in the cupboard, use peanut butter for a similar texture, but obviously slightly different flavour)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic - to taste (obviously cloves vary in size, and everyone's palate is different)
Olive oil - enough to give the consistency you like
pinch of salt

Put everything except the oil into a blender, then add the oil slowly until you reach the consistency you prefer. If you're watching calories, you can just add a drop of water, or extra lemon juice without any damage.

To serve it, place it in a bowl, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle some paprika over. Or some lemon zest, or just a sprig of parsley, have fun :)

I sometimes add whole sesame or sunflower seeds and just give a quick blitz if I fancy a little extra texture. Or linseeds, or pumpkin seeds ...... you get the picture. Experiment, have fun with it.

In the shops you'll see "specialist" hoummous, with roasted peppers, aubergines etc etc. I've tried them and prefer the subtle flavour of the original. However, it's all about personal preference, so if you've seen these and wondered what they're like, have a go.

If you've got your oven on for chips, or a roast of some kind, pop a red pepper, or aubergine, or whatever you fancy, onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven at the same time. Take it out when the skin looks as if it's about to burn, really quite black, trust me. Put the pepper, or aubergine etc into a plastic bag, or tub with the lid on, and leave it until it gets cool. You'll then be able to peel the skin off very easily - sometimes it helps to run it under cold water to wash the charred skin away.

Then just blend some of the pepper, or whatever, in with the hoummous until you get a flavour you enjoy. You might find half a pepper will give you enough of a hit, or you may need the whole of it. Again, sizes differ, as do palates, and it's your hoummous, so make it so that you like it.

Then look at the price of a small pot in the supermarket or deli and see just how much money you've saved!!!!!

raw food, "hoummous" recipe, vegan, wheat-free, coincidences

Strange conincidences have always fascinated me.

For instance, the government introduced a scheme to train mothers who wanted to return to work in the modern computerised office when my daughter was about 8. I applied for a place, but was unsuccessful. They said if they ran another, they would contact me. 6 months later, they did just that, and I spent 10 weeks learning not to be afraid of computers, how to make them serve me! Well, that was the theory, anyway!!

In the penultimate week of the course we learned to write a good CV, including our newly won quallifications in Word+ and other such archaic things. We were also obliged to apply for at least one job advertised in the local paper. I applied for, and got, one of the best jobs of my life, working in a primary school office.

If I'd got a place on the first course, I probably would have ended up somewhere else, and missed out on so much fun and valuable experience around the children I love so much. As it was, I started out working nine and a half hours a week, the only person who could use the new computer on which all ordering was soon to be done. As you can guess, it wasn't long before all pupil data, personnel data etc etc was computerised. I was promoted after just four months, and over the next couple of years became the school Bursar, or office manager. I stayed for 16 and a half years, only retiring to go to uni as a full time mature student. I loved that place.

So, coincidences are great.

Today, I was flicking through some raw food sites, and saw a recipe for "hummous". Only, of course, it wasn't hoummous as I know and love it, it was all raw. As it was coming up to lunch time, I went into the kitchen and made it.

Well, I say I made it, but of course, you never have exactly what the recipe needs, do you? I'd got most of it though, so here's what I did. I liquidised:

2 medium courgettes, well scrubbed
a good handful of pitted black olives, drained
1 small pickled gherkin
2 cloves of garlic
a pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 avocado (which replaced the olive oil in the original recipe - I had loads of avocados, and not much oil, that's all)
good handful of linseeds
pinch of salt

the recipe also called for some cumin, but I didn't have any in my spice box!!! I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it?

It came out a sludgy colour, but tasted great. I ate it over some falafels, and put the rest in the fridge.

The coincidence - no, I hadn't forgotten that's what I was chattering about, even though you thought I had - is, that I've just got a new (second-hand) wheat-free cookery book. (I was given it through the freecycle group - I gave her 2 jackets I don't wear any more!). As I was flicking through the recipes, what did I see, but a reciep entitled warm courgette and cumin dip! The ingredients are very similar to the above, but the courgettes are lightly fried before blending. Now I'll have to try that too :) Life can be so hard!

Maybe you'll try it, and enjoy it too. It doesn't, in my opinion, replace that lovely warm flavour of chickpeas in the real deal, but it is good :)