Homemade Low-Fat Hummus

I tried to make hummus once before and failed. It might sound weird to hear someone failed making hummus but note that this not a regular hummus but a low fat one. One that requires no tahini.

Tahini is supposed to be good for you. According to Livestrong, the fat in tahini is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, which have been known to lower cholesterol. But at the same time, hubby requested a no-tahini recipe and I thought it would be fun to try.

In my previous attempt, I didn't know what to replace the tahini with so I didn't. I googled hummus recipe and picked one from the internet, omitted the tahini and followed everything exactly. It turned out edible but dry and not very tasty.

This time, I did not plan to make hummus but I soaked way too many dry chickpeas for a vegetable tagine dish. Not wanting to throw the good chickpeas away I decided to make hummus. I was not prepared so I used whatever I could find in our pantry.

And guess what, it turned out. I guess sometimes winging it paid off. Or maybe the fact that I have no expectations = no pressure = good result?

Who knows but in any case, I ended up winging the whole lunch too.

If you have never made your own beans and have a couple of hours to spare, try it. It is worth it and you will not go back to canned beans. Making your own is not only cheaper but also healthier. Canned beans contain a lot of extra sodium that you don't need.

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas or 1 lb dried (see instructions below for using dried)
2 cloves of garlic, whole
6 kalamata olives, pitted
6 sun-dried tomatoes
a handful of fresh cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
3 oz liquid from the cooked chickpeas or reserved liquid from the can

Method:

If you cook your own chickpeas, in a pot, soak the dried chickpeas in water overnight. The next day, drain and rise the beans. Then cover it again with water, bring to a boil, then simmer, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until the chickpeas are tender.

If you use canned chickpeas,continue to the recipe below.

Drain the chickpeas, reserving the liquid.

Transfer the drained chickpeas to a food processor or a blender.

Add in 3 oz of the reserved chickpeas liquid.

Add all the spices,  and process or blender away.

chickpeas and garlic

add olives and sundried tomatoes

salt and pepper, and cilantro

yummy result

Taste and add more seasoning, as needed.

Serve as is with some chips, pita bread, on a toasted bread, or do a make-your-own-sandwich party like I did in the photo below.

For our make-your-own-sandwich lunch, I served the hummus on a cutting board to hubby with plain baguette, seitan, olives, pickles, pepperoncini, tomatoes, cilantro, and lettuce.

Doesn't look like much but all the combination actually make a hearty lunch. We were full afterwards.