Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Fat Free Hummus to Top Salad


This month both the hubby and I having been eating a big green salad for lunch and dinner and topping the salad with hummus and salsa instead of salad dressing. When we first started eating this I missed the mouth feel that came from a little oil in the salad dressing. But in just a couple of weeks this has become our new normal. Topping the salad with this fat free hummus has the added protein and calories to an otherwise low calorie salad.

I have been experimenting with a few different hummus recipes on our salad, but this is the one that seems to be our favorite. It has a mild flavor that works well with spicy salsa on top of a big green salad. Here is what we have been adding to our salad for protein in place of salad dressing.

Fat Free Hummus to Top Salad
Makes 8 large servings

Ingredients:

1 pound dried garbanzo beans
water to cook beans
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ tablespoon onion flakes

Directions:

Cook the chickpeas in water to cover by an inch, with the bay leaves until the beans are very tender. Remove the bay leaves before draining. Using a slotted spoon drain the hot chickpeas and place them in your food processor. To the hot beans add some of the bean cooking liquid and process until smooth and the consistency you like. Add the remaining ingredients and process until everything is well combined. Remember that the hummus will get thicker as it cools so you want it to be a little softer than normal while still hot.

I use a 14-cup processor so I can make this in one batch. If you are using a smaller machine you may need to split the hummus into two batches.

Once the hummus has cooled, refrigerate until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 210.12
Calories From Fat (13%) - 28.05

Total Fat - 3.35g
Saturated Fat - 0.35g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 306.94mg
Potassium - 397.3mg
Total Carbohydrates - 35.65g
Fiber - 9.68g
Sugar - 6.28g
Protein - 11.2g

Comments:

Hummus on salad is something we have been doing off and on for about 6 months. During the last few weeks as I have been trying to keep our diet more in line with “Eat To Live” (E2L), we have been eating this everyday. We use this and salsa on our green salads and it adds both protein and a lot of flavor. It has become my new favorite salad topping. I like the protein and calories it adds to a salad. It is sometimes difficult to make a healthy meal out of salad but this combination works well for a one dish meal when necessary.

Each serving of this hummus contains 180IU of vitamin A, 80mg of calcium, 4mg of iron, 210mg of folate, 210mg of phosphorus, 65mg of magnesium, and 5mcg of selenium. All this nutrition plus 11g of protein and 10g of fiber.

10 comments:

  1. Oooooohhh, this post helps me A LOT, Alicia, since it's hard for me to eat as much salad as E2L recommends. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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  2. Laura,

    Sometimes I eat salad for breakfast to get all the raw veggies in each day. It is a lot of salad and raw veggies. My hubby also likes to use this hummus with carrots sticks, celery or cucumber slices to dip into it. If you get tired of chewing the veggies toss them into a blender. That works too.

    Alicia

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  3. So nice to see a hummus recipe that isn't drowning in olive oil! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Anna,

    It is crazy how much olive oil and tahini are in most hummus recipes isn't it? I have been making mine with little or no added fat for about a year now. When we have commercial or restaurant hummus now it tastes too fatty to both of us. It is amazing to me how quickly our taste buds adapted to no oil added recipes.

    Alicia

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  5. Alicia, the use of the blender is exactly what I wrote about in my post yesterday! Loving how in sync we are!

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  6. Laura,

    Sounds like I need to check out your post. Yesterday was a little hectic here. I am still playing catch up.

    The blender has a been a life saver at our house. Sometimes I just don't feel like chewing all the produce the doc recommends. But I can always drink it. ;)

    talk to you later,
    Alicia

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  7. I love hummus, but I tried making it without tahini and it came just ok. I'll try this recipe and see how it goes. Normally I put in about 2 tablespoons of tahini per cup of chickpeas (this is a rough estimate from the top of my head) and little to no olive oil. I don't like how creamy commercial hummus is anyway.

    It's funny that I like my wife's hummus more than my own and she likes mine more than hers.

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  8. Matt,

    When I tried to go from my normal hummus to fat free I didn't like it either. I just kept adding less and less tahini until we got to fat free. You may want to try that if you want to reduce the fat in your hummus.

    Food made by others always tastes better. At least this is my husband's theory. It is his excuse to stay out of the kitchen. ;) He doesn't venture in there as often as you do.

    Alicia

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  9. Yay--I am glad you are liking your hummus and salsa "salad dressings"! I just had a HUGE green salad topped with salsa :-)

    I always add cumin to my hummus too--it is so good!

    Courtney

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  10. Courtney,

    Thanks! You were right, I certainly didn't expect it to become normal so quickly. But I am happy it did.

    Any other tips for fat-free hummus beside cumin? I am always looking for ideas.

    thanks again,
    Alicia

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