Most weeks I like to make a few different kinds of houmous so that we always have something healthy to eat in sandwiches, salads, etc. so I thought I’d share the recipes for the three houmouses I made this week.  (Is that the plural of houmous?  I really don’t know!)

This week I made roasted red pepper houmous, beetroot houmous and pesto houmous.  I kept the basic recipe very simple (pretty much 1 of everything so that it’s easy to remember) and then added different things for the three different varieties.  I make different ones every week, depending on what I have in the fridge, so might do another post next week!  These are all oil-free as well, so are lower in fat, but still have good fat from the tahini, and are very nutritious in general.  Adding different herbs, spices and veggies boosts the nutritional value, and just adds variety.  You can never have too many types of houmous!

Ingredients:

Basic houmous recipe

1 tin of chickpeas

1 clove of garlic

1 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Black pepper

For the red pepper houmous

1 roasted red pepper (either roasted by you, deseeded and stalk removed, or store bought in a jar)

Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Paprika or smoked paprika to sprinkle on top (optional)

For the pesto houmous

Handful of fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp pine nuts (plus extra to sprinkle on top)

1 tsp nutritional yeast (optional but gives a nice flavour)

For the beetroot houmous

1-2 cooked beetroots (depending on how much you like beetroot and the size of them, I buy the vacuum packed cooked beetroot because it’s so handy but you could boil or roast it yourself too)

Dash of cumin seeds (plus extra to sprinkle on top, optional)

 

Method:

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, peel the garlic clove and add all the basic houmous ingredients to a food processor.

Add the extra ingredients for whatever variation that you want to make.

Blend until smooth.  For the pesto houmous I like to leave it with a little more texture, but you can make it as smooth as you like.

Sprinkle on top whatever toppings you’re using.