Hummus

[Ellyn]

This is basically chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, ground into a paste mixed with sesame seeds that are also ground into a paste, with some olive oil to give the paste a paste-like texture.

To spice it up as a dip, you can add:
- ground garlic
- lemon juice
- salt
- spices (such as cayenne pepper, although a friend of mine puts in nutmeg)
- herbs

My favorite way to eat hummus is as a dip with pita bread. I'm thinking that it's really just a process of grinding stuff into a sort of dip or sauce that makes hummus, though, so...would it be accurate to call ground cauliflower a hummus? (Mashed cauliflower is becoming a popular substitute to mashed potatoes.) I'm tempted to even try with ground pine nuts, although not if the volume of pine nuts required get too expensive.

 

[Food4thought]

I too like eating hummus with pita bread, or as a dip. I enjoy it with salad and crisp raw vegetables and I like a little spice and garlic in it.

Do you grind the cauliflower raw or mash it after cooking? I have eaten hummus with cauliflower and think it is a suitable combination.

 

[Ellyn]

I mash the cauliflower like I'm making mashed potatoes. So, I cook it first, and then mash and blend or process it so that it's smooth and hummus-like (I can never get the consistency of mashed potatoes from mashed cauliflower, even though the latter is a low-calorie light-carb substitute for the former.)

Hummus with cauliflower rather than a cauliflower hummus, that does sound interesting!

 

[Rachele]

Ick! Cauliflower hummus? That sounds horrific. The only way I like to eat cauliflower is smothered in cheese on a roast dinner.

Cauliflower hummus is a great snack if you are following a paleo diet, though, as legumes are not allowed.

 

[Delftse Post]

I'm thinking that it's really just a process of grinding stuff into a sort of dip or sauce that makes hummus, though, so...would it be accurate to call ground cauliflower a hummus?

"Hummus" is an English transliteration of the Arabic word for "chickpeas", so it wouldn't make much sense to use the word for ground cauliflower!

 

[Ellyn]

"Hummus" is an English transliteration of the Arabic word for "chickpeas", so it wouldn't make much sense to use the word for ground cauliflower!

I have learnt something new today. Thank you

Cauliflower dip, then? Cauliflower sauce?

 

[Delftse Post]

I have learnt something new today. Thank you

Cauliflower dip, then? Cauliflower sauce?

I'd go with cauliflower dip!

Edit: just re-read your post - cooked, ground cauliflower would be cauliflower "puree" in my book.

Another good Levantine dip is Baba ghanoush (based on aubergine).