Monday, March 7, 2011

Hummus = alternative to mayo?

So Jason and I were talking over the weekend about how mayo usually upsets my stomach and really doesn't do much for me taste-wise on sandwiches, and I had just read an article in my running magazine about substituting hummus for mayo.  So today, after napping and being lazy in general, I decided to whip up a batch.

(Manda taught me how to make this version, your experience may differ).  I use canned chic-peas.  I tried using the dried ones in the bags, and soaking them over night, but they turn out... still crunchy and not as smooth or nice as the canned ones.  I drain the canned version, rinse them off a bit, remove any bits that float off while i'm rinsing them, then toss them in the miniblender.  I add about a tablespoon(more to taste) of Tahini (sesame paste).  I add a sprinkle of salt, just a bit, because I have had to pitch batches out that I won't eat because I've made them too salty.  (You can add more later!)  Then a sprinkle or 3 of cumin, a heaping spoon of minced garlic, or roasted garlic (if you've made some of that in advance, but, again, I was lazy and didn't have garlic heads on hand to roast).  Then drizzle in some olive oil.
Grind/Pulse/Mash/Mix/Stir/Scrape until the hummus has a smooth-ish consistancy.  You may need to add a bit more olive oil if it's chunking up, or if the blender won't blend.(Foodprocessor/whatever).  Stick a spoon (or a finger) in to give it a taste, or a cracker, if you're so inclined.  Mine was pretty much right on, but if you need to add more tahini or if you like red pepper or paprika or... whatever.  This is not a science.  Play around!  Just be careful with the salt because you can get it too salty really easily.
I then spread mine on really nice sandwich bread, with turkey and provolone and tomato and lettuce, and jammed it in the fore-man grill and Tada!  I stuck the rest of the hummus in a Tupperware container to hopefully enjoy on crackers and sandwiches for the rest of the week.
Panini!  Sort of.  Anyway, it was really yum, and my stomach is not yet rebelling!  Now to hope it digests in 2 hours so I'm ready for my run!

1 comment:

Pam J. said...

Nice post. Inspiring. I wonder if I could replace butter with hummus? It would be hard -- I do love my butter. But I may try.