How to make Hummus-Plain, Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic & English Pea & Mint Hummus

Last week I posted a photo of my lunch on SaucyCooks Facebook Page and got a lot of positive feedback. I was eating what had become my standby lunch, one I eat almost daily and am not getting sick of. I have fallen in love with an open faced sandwich, a sweet and savory, fabulously healthy and easy to vary sandwich based on a slice of honey wholegrain bread and the roasted red pepper and garlic hummus I had made a couple of weeks back.

I toast my slice of bread to bring out the nutty and sweet flavor. Then I begin with the add-ons. Almost always they include a layer of avocado, either sliced or smushed onto the bread. Sometimes I augment it with some thinly sliced fresh mozzarella, feta or goat cheese, usually I add some arugula.

There’s another thing I love about hummus. It is super easy to switch around the flavor and it is almost hard to go wrong when doing so. The basic ingredients of chick peas, tahini, lemon and olive oil rarely deviate (Although they can. You can use peanut or almond butter instead of tahini and you could use another citrus juice or even vinegar in place of lemon juice.) But after that you can add a myriad of flavors: garlic, roasted peppers, herbs and spices, sun dried tomatoes, cheese or avocado.

You can’t mess hummus up. You make it how you like it. I like mine creamy so I add maybe a little more olive oil than the next guy. Lemon or not, it’s up to you. I noticed when looking at recipes that I use more tahini (a ground paste made from sesame seeds)  than most people; experiment, you’ll find what works best for your palate.

Hummus is like a woman of ill repute: cheap and easy. A one pound bag of dried chick peas costs less than two dollars and will last you for months. The rest of the ingredients are marginal, at best. It’s easy to cook them: just soak them overnight and then simmer in a pot of chopped onions, salt and water. I usually throw the cooked onions in the food processor too. Everything goes in the food processor, this is a one process, one dish to clean kind of recipe and will last for weeks in the fridge.

So this week when I noticed fresh English peas at the local market and a bunch of mint just waiting to be used in my vegetable bin, I decided to mix it up a bit and created a spring appropriate version of hummus. I was also thinking that I could sell it more easily to the Brit by telling him that it is Mushy Peas!

The recipe printed below is meant to be used as a guide, not a recipe you need to follow exactly. Many a purest will tell you that the only way to eat hummus is plain. Personally, I love it with smokey roasted peppers and lots of garlic. The Brit actually liked the Mushy Pea Hummus. In the way of a “bonus recipe”, let me tell you that I will often make up extra chickpeas, toss them with EVO, a mixture of hot and spicy  peppers and Sea Salt and then roast them at 350 for about 20 minutes for a great, healthful, protein rich snack.