SEEING-TO-BELIEVE
Head Chef
do you think good hummus is underrated or overrated?
Agree with Silversage 100%.In my mind, there is no good or bad hummus. It's just bland, mashed up beans. I don't particularly care about it one way or the other. If it's the only snack on the table, I'll have some, but if there are other offerings, I'll pass it by.
I'm not a fan of most middle eastern foods. There is just sonething in the flavor profiles that just doesn't tickle my taste bids.
I've made it with Kalamata olives and really like it that way. Also with roasted red peppers (no olives). Also good.My answer is "no". I don't think it's overrated or underrated.
I like hummus. I really like the hummus recipe from Joy of Cooking. It's pretty standard, but there are black olives added. The olives go into the food processor with the chickpeas. It does make the colour of the hummus a bit greyish (or purplish if you use Kalamata olives), but it adds a really nice, interesting flavour.
Leftover hummus is also a nutritious addition to tomato based ‘cream’ soups and pasta sauces.I mostly use hummus for sandwiches, for the creaminess, then add the olive relish or sliced tomatoes. It's also good on a 'not meat' hamburger. I use it when I don't have a tofu cream sauce for sandwiches.
I have a friend that dilutes the hummus and uses it for a salad dressing on lettuce/tomato/etc salad or a potato salad. It works well on both. I think she adds pickle brine, water/vinegar, and spices.
It's funny you should say that. I never heard of hummus used for this before until yesterday, when my wife said she saw someone mention it in one of her Vegan forums. Honestly, I made a face when she told me, cause it doesnt sound like something I'd do, and now Im seeing it again. Maybe I should try it.Leftover hummus is also a nutritious addition to tomato based ‘cream’ soups and pasta sauces.
Cooks Illustrated had an article about and recipe for hummus a year or two ago. Apparently the key to the best hummus is to peel the skins off before puréeing it. You boil canned chickpeas with baking soda and it loosens the skins, but it's a huge pain imo to separate the beans from the skins. The hummus was amazingly smooth, though. It's not worth the effort to me, but that's probably what good restaurants do.The best hummus I ever had was from a restaurant in NYC called Hummus Kitchen ( on 9th st up near the theater district). I couldn't believe what I was eating. I've had hummus so many times in my life and made it countless numbers of times, but nothing compared to this. Mine was good, theirs was great. I also loved that they served it toped the a drizzle of Olive oil, and a few mixed olives on top. It became one of our go to places every time we visited the city, but no other time was like that first experience. Im not sure if I just got used to it, or they changed up their recipe. Still good, but not ass outstanding as I remembered.