Hummus is a delicious and healthy snack food that surprisingly only just became popular within the United States. In the 1960s, hummus first hit health food store shelves in America and at first, people weren’t exactly lining up out the door to taste the tahini hummus dip. But over the years, America has come to know and love hummus dips, so much to the point that several hummus brands are on store shelves today.
Typically, hummus recipes are compromised of four main components: chickpeas, garlic, tahini paste, and olive oil. The chickpeas are cooked, typically boiled, and then are processed with the rest of the ingredients until a smooth, creamy dip is made. From there, many cooks like to embellish their hummus recipes, adding things like additional garlic to make roasted garlic hummus dip, and red peppers and olives to create more Mediterranean flavored hummus.
Hummus isn’t only loved for its delicious taste. Rather, it’s favored as the go-to snacking choice because of its healthy attributes. Hummus is a naturally low-calorie snack, with a good amount of protein, fiber, and healthy fats to sustain any snacker’s hunger. Hummus is also comprised of entirely whole, plant-based foods. You won’t find any preservatives or unpronounceable ingredients in real hummus, just delicious things that you would find growing in the earth.
When it comes to hummus, it’s not just limited for dipping and dunking. Rather, you can use the chickpea tahini dip for a plethora of healthy and delicious recipes. Using roasted garlic hummus dip, for example, you can combine it with lemon, bread crumbs, feta cheese, and pesta and dollop it into grilled zucchini boats with the insides scraped out. You can also use hummus as a substitute for mayonnaise in a number of salad recipes, such as tuna and chicken salad. When it comes to hummus, the possibilities are really endless!
What’s your favorite way to eat hummus? Tell us in the comments below!