Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

This creamy houmous has a lovely peppery warmth, and the lemon gives it a bright, fresh flavour. It’s really easy to make and would go well with all sorts of things

Yield; Roughly 450g houmous Cook time; 15/20 minutes (if cooking dried chickpeas)

You’ll need;

1. Either one 400g tin of chickpeas, drained, or 125g dried chickpeas
2. Both the juice and zest of one unwaxed lemon
3. Two tablespoons of tahini
4. Two cloves of garlic, chopped
5. Half a teaspoon of black pepper
6. 100ml cold water

Method;

1. If you’re using dried chickpeas, you’ll need to soak them in 450ml cold water, with half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, for 8 hours or overnight. Then bring a pan of water to a boil, and add the chickpeas. Immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting, pop a lid on, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the chickpeas are tender. Drain and rinse the chickpeas in cold water to stop the cooking process.
   If you’re using tinned chickpeas, just drain away the liquid and give them a good rinse
2. Pop the chickpeas into a blender along with the lemon juice and zest, tahini, garlic, pepper and season to taste with salt. Blend until you have smooth creamy houmous
3. Transfer the houmous to an airtight container and refrigerate it, once it’s chilled it’s ready to use

How I Use Houmous

I make houmous quite often, I pretty much always have some in the fridge ready to use. Sometimes people ask how I use houmous, so I thought I would share my favourite ways of eating houmous

Houmous on Toast; Instead of buttering your toast with dairy free butter/spread, try using houmous. It’s lovely as it is, or topped with fried mushrooms and tomatoes

Houmous Salad Bowls; Make a colourful and crunchy salad bowl with a large dollop of houmous in the centre. I also like to add Pickled Red Onion and Chicken Style Seitan too (click the bold, underlined text to go to those recipes). It makes for a tasty and satisfying lunch

Sandwiches, Wraps & Dips; I like to spread a thick layer of houmous onto sandwiches & wraps, then add whatever vegetables, dairy free cheeses or mock meats you like. Houmous is also a great dip for vegetable sticks, crackers, crisps or breadsticks, it makes for a tasty but quick snack

Pasta Sauce or Salad Dressing; Lastly you can thin some houmous down to use it as a sauce. If you’re making some pasta, just add a little of the pasta water to make a silky houmous sauce. You can also thin houmous down with a little water and use it as a dressing for a salad too