Hummus: The New Crack (But slightly healthier...)

So I think I may have the best hummus recipe in the world. One of them, at the very least. It comes from The Best Recipe*and we've been making it for years. Thing is, I always knew it was a good-for-you snack, but never realized how good it was for you. One cup of garbanzo beans, for example, provides you with one-third of your daily protein and about 25 % of your daily iron. Isn't that wild? (Here's a nifty trick I learned on how to figure out how much protein your body needs: take your body weight and divide it by 3. That's about how many grams you need per day. Ends up my initial worries over not getting enough protein on a plant-based diet were for naught. Woo-hoo!) And the tahini (which is just sesame seed butter) has, in just 2 Tablespoons, 6 grams of protein, 30% of your daily calcium needs, and 25% of your daily iron needs. Perhaps you already knew all this, but it was news to me and just blew me away.

But even if it wasn't healthy, I'd be all over it because, as I said, it's crack. Whenever we serve this stuff, people crowd around it and it disappears. When we make a double-batch just for us, it's gone in about 2 days. C-R-A-C-K.

So here's the scoop. I actually usually double the recipe, but this is the original recipe, just for kicks.

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (we a little more)
3/4 teaspoon salt
pinch cayenne pepper
3 T juice from 1 large lemon
1/4 C tahini
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 C water

Tahini is usually found near peanut butter in supermarket, but ask if you can't find it. It's gone pretty mainstream in the last few years. Make sure your olive oil is still good. If it smells even slightly rancid, get a new bottle. It's well worth the cost!

Process all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 40 seconds. Transfer humus to a serving bowl, cover, and chill until flavors meld -- or as my friend Mike used to say, "until the flavors get to know each other" -- for at least 30 minutes. My guess is you could make this in a blender if you don't have a processor, though I've never tried it. Ryan sometimes likes to put one piece of roasted red pepper in there, but then you should experiment taking away a little of the water, or it gets a little soupy otherwise.

We always have a bowl of this in the fridge. We dip vegetables in it, sometimes pieces of bread or pita ... I even put a heaping sloppy bunch of it on my veggie-burgers and the taste is second to none. My friends Jen and Raffi get very saucy with their hummus (which is one of the other great hummus recipes out there but I've never been able to get my paws on it, as I think it's a family secret of theirs) -- they drizzle olive oil on the platter when it is done so that there is a shallow pool of gold on top of the hummus. But only do that if you're feeling naughty. 

If you have your own amazing hummus recipe, by all means post it and we'll host our own "hummus challenge." 

Hope you enjoy this as much as we do! Peaceful Eating!
~Katrina


*not vegan-friendly by any means, but there are little nuggets in there I can still use!

"Why do you suppose you like animals so much?"

Recently, I heard the piece quoted below and haven't been able to get it out of my head. An animal activist, Laura Moretti is asked this question and her answer is just took my breath away.

I always admire people that can debate topics that are close to my heart. I'm hopelessly inept at debating and have always avoided doing it because I get tongue-tied and brain-tied so easily. I don't like getting into political conversations, even though I have strong opinions, because I just end up doing a disservice to the the issue/person I believe in with my lack of ability to think on my toes. So when things start to get heated, I'll either try to change the subject or will unobtrusively leave the room to help with the dishes or some other innocuous chore. And sometimes it maddens me because I feel like I have important things to say, but I just can't seem to process information quickly. (I can process like a computer when I'm in a room of 26 third-graders for seven hours, but at the dinner table? Forget it.) I would have made a very poor lawyer.

But I'm grateful for people like Laura who are able to put into words what I often can not. 

"Why do you suppose you like animals so much?" was the million-dollar question put to me Christmas Eve (and one I hadn't provoked). I knew my family was expecting me to say something like, "I like animals because they're cute and cuddly and furry and fun to play with." But instead I said, "I like animals because they are honest."

My observation triggered a facetious comment from one of my brothers. “About what?"--as if honesty were merely about telling the truth, and everyone knows animals can't talk! His notation was met with hearty laughter; for once, they thought they'd repaid me for all the discomfort I'd caused them at other family gatherings.

"I like that animals don't pretend to be someone they're not," I continued in my reply, hushing the crowd. "To quote a phrase, 'Dogs don't lie about love.' Animals don't fake their feelings. I like that they're emotionally fearless."

We were lounging on sofas and armchairs after our feast and present opening. Coffee was being served, so I seized the opportunity. "I like animals," I added, "because they only take out of life what they need. They don't abuse their environment, annihilate species, pollute their water, contaminate the air they breathe. They don't build weapons of mass destruction and use them against others-particularly members of their own species. I like animals because they have no use for those things, or for war or terrorism. They don't build nations around genocide."

My uncle seemed momentarily lost in thought. He had been born and raised in New York City. "That's because they don't know any better," a brother-in-law argued. "They don't do those things because they don't know how."

"A pride of lions doesn't get together," I countered him, "and decide how to exterminate zebras-their very source of nourishment. I don't think it's because they don't know how. I think it's because it's counter-productive." They laughed. 

"I also like animals," I continued," because they don't punish themselves for their perceived inadequacies. They don't dwell on things of the past, nor use them as excuses for behavior in the present. And they don't plan to live some day in the future, they live today, this moment, fully, completely, and purely. I like animals because they live their lives with so much more freedom than humans live theirs."

"That's because they don't think," one of my cousins offered.

"Is that the difference?" I wondered. "'I think therefore I'm cruel, destructive, insecure, abusive?' You meant to say they don't think the way we think." The room had become strangely quiet. I was amazed at how closely my family was listening, despite the occasional grunt to the contrary.

"I like animals because they don't bow down to imaginary gods they've created, nor annihilate each other in the name of those gods; gods, they say, who are all-knowing and all-loving and just. I like animals because they only know how to give unconditional love and implicit trust. I mean, animals either extend those things to you or they don't; there are no shades of gray. They have the best of what makes us human and, as one observer put it, "none of our vices.'" "And thank God," someone injected.

"Lastly," I added, remembering why I was an animal rights activist, "Animals are the most victimized living creatures on earth; more than children, more than women, more than people of color. Our prejudice enables us to exploit and use them, as scientific tools and expendable commodities, and to eat them. We do to them any atrocity our creative minds can summon. We justify our cruelties; we have to or we can't commit them. I like animals because they don't do to themselves or to others the things we do to them. And they don't make excuses for unethical actions because they don't commit unethical acts."

"And finally," I finished, "I like animals because they're not hypocrites. They don't say one thing and do another. They are, as I've said, honest. Animals-not humans-are the best this planet has to offer." And, interestingly enough, despite my soapbox rant, not a one of them made a snide comment or a hint of laughter. The conversation actually rolled into shared stories of animals they've known, stories of animal loyalty and intelligence, their humor and innocence. And it was me who'd become the listener with the occasional comment: "Now, if only humans could only be, well, like animals." And that is why I fight the good fight; I rise on behalf of the best among us.

Tacos. Love them.

So taco night has always been big in our household. Nothing satisfies the hunger, or cooks up as quickly, quite like tacos. So I wondered...would a veggie version be as good? The answer that made me oh-so-happy was a resounding, "Hell, yes!" We made them exactly the same except we used this vegan product called Smart Ground by Lightlife. I recall my friend Holli -- hope you don't mind my borrowing your idea, Holli! -- had mentioned in one of her blogs last year that she made it but, being a vegetarian who did not like the consistency/smell/taste of meat, couldn't bring herself to eat it with her husband, it was so much like actual meat.

 

So I thought this might be a fun thing to try for us. It worked great and tasted exactly like hamburger, except there were no pools of orange-colored oil on top of the "meat." I fried up some onions in olive oil, added the spices, and then added the Smart Ground. Super easy. We then put rice, lettuce, and tomatoes and hot sauce in them and I added avocado, and vegan sour cream (Follow-you-heart brand) to mine. I thought it tasted even BETTER than the old tacos I loved. Ry thought is was "pretty good" but wasn't raving and giggling the way I was. But that's because he's not keen on avocados like I am. Avocados, with a touch of salt, are just the fruit of the gods. Next time, I'll make a guacamole topping instead of just avos, as he likes guacamole.

While vegan processed foods shouldn't be viewed as "health foods" exactly -- nothing comes close to eating whole foods -- it's a lot better than the alternative that's full of antibiotics and fat. While I didn't make this new choice in plant-based foods for health reasons -- it was all about the animals -- it certainly is a sweet and huge side benefit that I didn't quite expect.

So -- vegan tacos? Amazing. Try them!

P.S. The picture above is actually one I got from a google image search for "vegan tacos." I have to get better at using our own camera ...