Hummus as Superfood

1. Maybe you've never heard of it, or you've seen it on the shelves: Hummus. A type of puree based on chickpeas that originated in Arab cuisine. This delicacy as a superfood is becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands.

1. And that's no wonder, because if you list all the benefits of this, we are dealing with a hyper-superfood here!

1. 4 names for the same superfood. These names are used interchangeably throughout the literature and on the Internet, but the same is meant everywhere. After a search, I have come to the conclusion that the official name for this superfood is hummus.

1. So I use this term in this article, but you now know that if you continue to search the Internet, there are several names in circulation.

1. Hummus is a kind of puree that is made on the basis of chickpeas. And the sesame seed sauce tahini. Originally this delicacy was eaten in the Levant, a geographic term for the part of West Asia, immediately east of the Mediterranean Sea. Not entirely clear, but this superfood was once distributed from Israel.

1. In Israel, hummus has become an indispensable food at parties and parties, preferring the locally made, artisan hummus. Although they don't really like the industrially made hummus, it was this same industry that put hummus on the map, renaming the product the national dish of Israel.

1. Due to the marketing efforts of the industry, hummus began to gain popularity from the 1950s onwards. After that, the attention and taste of the Israelis shifted from the industrially made hummus to the artisan hummus.

1. Nowadays hummus is widely consumed in Arab cuisine, especially the Middle East, West Africa and Turkey. In these countries, the hummus is eaten with the local bread, so with Turkish bread, Moroccan bread or Pita bread. With a piece of bread, the Hummus is â € spoonedâ € ™ from the plate or from a bowl and eaten.

1. The main ingredient in the Hummus is a legume: Chickpeas. No, this has nothing to do with the green animal. They are just legumes, just like peas. In addition, it naturally contains garlic and tahini, a paste of sesame seeds, and of course olive oil.

1. Let's take a look at what these ingredients can do for your health:

1. Chickpeas

1. As mentioned, the chickpea is a legume. Not only does this legume have the benefits you'd expect from any vegetable, but there are some big pluses.

1. Let's list them all:

1. Garlic is known to have many health benefits. Let's list them for a moment:

1. Sesame seeds are widely used as decoration and as a seasoning in all kinds of foods. But it is also super healthy. The seeds consist for the most part of oil and proteins. In addition, polyunsaturated fatty acids are also abundant, very important for the cholesterol-lowering effect, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

1. You can also find a lot of vitamins and minerals in the seeds. A handful of sesame seeds is almost a superfood in itself!

1. We have already paid attention to olive oil, but for the sake of completeness a few major benefits of this delicious oil:

1. Most of it consists of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is important in the fight against cardiovascular disease. These good fatty acids cause lower cholesterol.

1. In addition to these fatty acids, olive oil also contains several types of vitamin E, antioxidants that protect you from oxidation damage to your blood vessels.

1. Well, if you add all this together, we are really talking about a superfood. Read on for a quick and easy recipe!

1. You can of course go for convenience and buy a can of hummus at the supermarket. But making it yourself is of course much more fun, much better and you know what is in it! Don't be alarmed, it's incredibly easy to make and the big advantage is that you can vary according to your own taste.

1. There are of course many recipes for making hummus yourself. Everyone claims they make the perfect hummus. Perhaps it is, but I just want to limit myself to the basic hummus recipe.

1. Once you've mastered that, you can vary to your heart's content and perhaps make your own one that is completely adapted to your taste and preference.

1. Requirements:

1. In the method I mention the use of a blender. By this I mean actually all machines that can chop. That can be a stationary blender, but a hand blender can also do this job well.

1. [!Pullquote] If you want to make the Hummus a bit smoother, you can add a little more olive oil [!/ pullquote], or one or two teaspoons of the chickpea juice.]

1. In a sealed plastic container, you can keep the Hummus for about a week, if you keep it in the fridge.

1. Once you've made this basic recipe, you will soon tend to vary. In fact, anything is possible as long as you stay fairly close to the basic recipe. You can add certain vegetables or vary them with spices.

1. Try the following:

1. In fact, it doesn't matter what you put through it. A recipe for Hummus is not very strict, which you can also tell from the great local variations of Hummus in the Arab countries.

1. Hummus can be eaten in many different ways, and at different times of the day: with a meal, on a sandwich during breakfast or as a dip on a birthday.

1. Just a few ideas:

1. And now? If you are reading all this, we are really dealing with a hyper superfood here. If you make a large bowl of Hummus once a week, you can use it every day and you won't have any extra work.

1. But then you will enjoy all the benefits of this superfood!