Tag: chickpeas

Must have Hummus

Yes – it’s true – hummus is the best – here is my recipe, and remember – once you get it right – it is so much better for you than any shop bought variety – in which there are usually many additives you really do not want to eat – such as palm oil (I mean- Why?) and artificial flavouring to name the most obvious, and they are lazy about spices so to compensate they add way too much salt

The answer is to make your own – and once made it keeps well in the fridge for many days. Also it’s a great way to get more fresh vegetables down you as you can easily and quickly prepare celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks and paprika (bell pepper) sticks – just to name a few – to dip into your Hummus and munch on –

Also a great quick fail safe party snack and great to get kids to eat healthy food – which can often be a real hurdle. On top of that is that it is very, very economical, it costs almost nothing to make.

a tin of chickpeas in brine
Juice of half a lemon
water
2 – 3 tablespoons of tahini
ground cumin – or even whole cumin seed.
a pinch of salt

Drain the chickpeas
squeeze the half a lemon
Then simply chuck it all in the blender – and blend until smooth-ish , adding water to get the right potato-mash consistency (it does not have to be silky smooth – some rough body to the hummus is part of what makes it so delicious – then salt or add more spices to get the flavour just right!
I add ground fenugreek or curry powder to mine, and sometimes use other kinds of nut butters – peanut is possible or almond, pine nut, pistachio or cashew – but make sure you use 100% nut butters with no additives whatsoever- not even salt.
Also, you can make a hummus out of ANY kind of bean. Lima beans, black beans, red kidney beans, berlotti beans – simply try them out – see how to adjust.
You can also add fresh herbs if you wish chopping fine before adding to the blender. Try parsley or chives, garlic or dried provincial herb mix.
You can even experiment with vegetables, add some spinach, try beetroot, finely chopped spring onion.

You have choices. take them.

Vegan mayonnaise

recipe

I’ve mentioned it often enough. My vegan mayonnaise recipe. So here it is. I eat this almost every day. It keeps well in a closed jar or pot in the fridge and there are many variations. Mayonnaise is a good basic recipe which can be changed and tweaked for different flavours. Add garlic and it becomes aioli, add herbs for freshness, add spices for curry flavour or a chilli hit. The choice is yours. Change the kind of oil you use or the kind of sweetner, the vinegar or citrus. Use orange instead of lemon, or use lime, or white balsamic vinegar. The variations are endless.

Dare to experiment, you will soon find the one that works for you.

There are two ways you can mix this. The newer one is to throw it all together with the oil on top and stick blend it in one go. This does not work so well for me. I use the slow method.

First add all the ingredients, except the oil. I give this a blend first to get a soft frothy little mixture.

Then using a stick blender I slowly add the oil and mix it all carefully so it does not split. Do not rush.

Aquafaba. I use the water from a tin of chickpeas, but it can be the water from any kind of tinned beans. Or if you boil up your own beans after soaking them overnight you can try cooling and using that aquafaba. After much experimentation I have found that tinned chickpea water works best for me.

The original recipe calls for a 1/2 tsp vinegar white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I use all lemon juice

Vegetable oil, Avocado oil, peanut oil sunflower oil. I have found that sunflower oil works best for me. I never use rapeseed oil.

Mustard, here you can use any kind of mustard you like, Dijon is my favourite.

The original recipe calls for maple syrup but any kind of sweetner will work, honey or even crystal stevia. I now use a powder or icing sugar.

1 cup sunflower oil.
1/4 cup chickpea aquafaba
1/4 tsp fine table salt
1 and 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp icing sugar

technique.
Mix all the ingredients except the oil and give it a light whisk till it lightly foams.
Slowly drizzle in the oil mixing well all the time to create a soft thick mass.
Put the mixture in a pot or jar with a tightly closing lid and keep in the fridge.

Good luck, Mayonnaise can be tricky!