Hummus has a fairly simple list of ingredients. Its main ones are chickpeas and tahini. Chickpeas are a kind of bean and tahini is made from roasted and ground sesame seeds. Both of these ingredients should be on our list of healthy plant based foods. In addition to these main ingredients hummus is also cooked with and, or served with garlic and olive oil. Both of these ingredients are also healthy ones.

People often shun hummus because they believe that it is too fattening. This is because of the amount of oil that it includes. Oils come from both the tahini and the olive oil. these are both considered to be healthy oils. In fact we are encouraged to eat more of them as part of a Mediterranean style diet. You can make a diet style hummus with less oil content.

Chickpeas have been used as a staple food in the Middle East since ancient times. They are a kind of bean, even though they perhaps don’t look much like the usual cannellini or black beans that we know. We are always being encouraged to eat more beans as part of a healthy diet. This is because beans like chickpeas contain lots of protein and fibre. They are healthy for our hearts and digestive system. Chickpeas are ideal for adding to your normal food intake. You can simply add chickpeas to stews and soups as you cook them. They add flavour and also add interest to the meals that you normally cook. One of the most exciting ways to include chickpeas in our normal diet is to eat them in the form of hummus.

Making good hummus is a bit of an art. There are many variations on the standard homemade hummus recipe, but the all important thing is to get the hummus to be extra smooth as well and nice and creamy. This all depends on how you deal with the chickpeas themselves. You have to start off with the raw dry chickpeas, soak them well and then cook them until they are very tender. The water that the chickpeas are cooked in contains lots of flavour and this is also used in the best recipes. The way you cook and prepare the chickpeas will influence how smooth and creamy the hummus is, that you produce.

Once you have the basics of making homemade hummus sorted out you can start adding flavours such as roasted red pepper, garlic, lime, peanut butter or even sun-dried tomatoes. The list of flavours that you can add is only determined by your imagination. Hummus can also be made from other types of beans including black and white beans. These have subtly different flavours and texture to hummus made from chickpeas but are equally as tasty and exciting.

You may think that hummus is just another dip but that isn’t the case. It can be used as a spread with sandwiches and wraps as well as being added to many recipes including soups and pasta dishes. Hummus is a good thickening agent and has a great creamy texture as well as having a fantastic taste. You can use it where you might use cream or mayonnaise.

To find out how to make fantastic tasting healthy hummus and how you can use it in cooking lots of recipes check out How to Make Hummus