One of the most successful Lenten dishes is hummus. It is made from chickpeas, with the addition of tahini, sesame paste and oil; in addition, garlic and lemon juice are often added to hummus. Chickpeas are an excellent source of vegetable protein and vitamins, including B vitamins.
Article on the topic Fish steak and a glass of wine. What can you eat during the Nativity Fast? Hummus can be eaten as a snack, you can make sandwiches with it, spread it on tortillas and add vegetables, or use it as a thick sauce for baked or fresh vegetables. It turns out to be both satisfying and healthy, and replenishes the protein deficiency characteristic of nutrition during the fasting period.
Tahini paste
It is made from sesame seeds, olive oil, and spices. In stores, this paste is sold ready-made; it can be bought in large supermarkets, stores selling national products, spices, and ordered in online stores. It’s difficult to make real tahini at home; you have to grind the sesame seeds very finely, which homemade equipment is usually not capable of. But you can make a homemade analogue by grinding sesame seeds, cumin, black pepper and a little sea salt in a coffee grinder or food processor, then add olive oil and a little sesame oil and beat well.
Is it possible to eat on a diet
With the increasing popularity of the new dish, many girls began to wonder whether it was worth eating it when losing weight. Nutritionists say that hummus can be eaten on a diet. It has a number of properties that make the paste a product useful for combating excess weight.
Read also: Salmon milk: calorie content, benefits and harm, recipes
However, experts recommend not to get too carried away with hummus when dieting. It is believed that you can eat no more than two tablespoons of pasta at one meal. Only then will it be possible to maintain your figure and even reduce its volume.
There are several options for using hummus on a diet:
- Fasting day. But it doesn’t mean that you only need to eat hummus during it. You need to eat about 300 grams of the product per day. However, it can be combined with light vegetable salads.
- Diet with hummus. Every day you need to eat pasta for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It should be remembered that you should eat no more than two tablespoons at a time. You can eat hummus this way on any diet. A good option would be to apply the paste to bread or pita bread or serve it as a sauce for vegetables.
Lebanese hummus
Recipe by Shamsiddin Kamalov, brand chef of Chaikhona No. 1 restaurants by Timur Lansky
Photo: Restaurant chain Chaikhona No. 1 by Timur Lansky
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 5-6 tbsp. sesame tahini paste
- ½ lemon
- 2 teeth garlic
- To serve for 1 serving:
- 2 g basil
- 10 g boiled chickpeas
- 2 g capsicum
- 10 ml olive oil
- A pinch of sweet paprika
Vinaigrette and lots of beans. Recipes for light salads for the Advent Fast Read more
Step 1. Wash the chickpeas and put them in water overnight. Step 2. Rinse well again and cook until the beans are soft. Step 3. Drain the water, reserving it, it will be useful for cooking. Step 4: Pulse the beans in a food processor or puree them in a blender. Step 5. Then add salt, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and one quarter cup of boiled bean water. It’s better not to rush with water; while stirring, look at the consistency of the resulting puree. Step 6. Then add the juice of half a lemon and sesame paste, mixing again in a food processor or blender. Step 7. Place the finished hummus on a rimmed plate, cut the basil into thin strips. Step 8. Decorate with basil, capsicum, boiled peas, seeds and sweet paprika, pour with vegetable oil.
Benefits for the body
What are the health benefits of chickpea hummus? The main benefit of chickpea hummus is the sufficient amount of easily digestible protein , fatty acids, fiber and the large amount of vitamins it contains.
It contains no cholesterol, so chickpea paste can be safely consumed even by those who suffer from a number of diseases of the cardiovascular system.
In addition to all of the above, hummus:
- normalizes the body's metabolic processes;
- eliminates waste and toxins;
- improves cerebral circulation;
- reduces blood sugar levels;
- stabilizes the gastrointestinal tract and normalizes digestion;
- removes cholesterol.
For women
For the female body, hummus is a real godsend .
Not only does it fit perfectly into any diet and will not harm your figure, it also promotes women's health and beauty - the firmness and elasticity of the skin improves and metabolism accelerates. Nutritionists say that at least 1/5 of a nursing mother’s diet should contain protein. And its content in chickpeas is 25%, so it is ideally suited for the diet of young mothers.
Chickpeas compensate for the lack of vitamins such as A, B, C, K and E, as well as a very important trace element - iron. Unlike regular peas or beans, chickpeas do not cause gas and bloating.
Important! A nursing mother should introduce chickpeas into her diet gradually, carefully observing the baby’s food reaction. But the child must be at least 3-4 months old.
Useful recipes: shawarma, chorba from different countries, creamy fish soup, creamy broccoli soup.
For men
Among Arab men, who are distinguished by their high performance and “hot” temperament , hummus is a very popular snack. Chickpeas, as the main component of hummus, have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the male genitourinary system and the functioning of the prostate gland.
Mg, P and Na in lamb peas increase resistance to stress. And the leucite contained in hummus makes it possible to increase muscle mass, which fans of strength sports and bodybuilders cannot but appreciate.
Turkish cuisine is popular among men for its meat dishes: kebab, doner, iskander, lula.
When losing weight
Hummus is a fairly high-calorie snack, but it is actively used in the diet menu: the protein it contains does not allow extra pounds to be stored “in reserve.” Paprika stimulates metabolic processes and improves metabolism. Lemon juice is an excellent fat burner with a minimum of contraindications.
Hummus has another undeniable advantage - its use reduces cravings for sweets.
Recipes for those watching their weight: puree soup from zucchini, celery, spinach, dietary.
You will learn about the composition of hummus and how to use it for weight loss from the video:
Hummus with baked eggplant
The author of the recipe is Gia Khuchua, chef of the restaurant “Mama Tuta” (St. Petersburg)
Photo: Restaurant “Mama Tuta” (St. Petersburg)
- 1 eggplant
- 1 tbsp. pomegranate seeds
- ¼ red onion
- A few fresh mint leaves
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- Sea salt
- Spices: cumin, sumac, dried cilantro
Article on the topic
Add seeds and legumes.
How to eat during the Nativity Fast For hummus (100 g per 1 serving):
- 1 kg chickpeas
- 200 g tahini paste
- 75 ml olive oil
- 50 ml lemon juice
- 10 g sea salt
- 5 g garlic
- 500 ml water
For refueling:
- 15 ml wine vinegar
- 2-3 teeth. garlic
- 2 tbsp. sunflower oil
- Salt
- parsley, cilantro, dill
Step 1. First, prepare homemade hummus. To do this, soak the chickpeas, boil them, puree them in a blender and mix with all the ingredients until smooth. Step 2. Bake the whole eggplant over coals, grill or directly on the gas burner of the stove until the skin is charred. Step 3. As soon as the skin is thoroughly fried, place it in a bowl for a short while, cover tightly with a lid or cling film, and leave for a while. Step 4. After which you can easily remove the skin and bring the eggplant to readiness: for example, put it in the microwave or in a preheated oven for a short time, about 5 minutes. The finished eggplant should be completely soft. Step 5. For the dressing, finely chop or squeeze fresh garlic through a press, mix with the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. You can choose the greens to your liking and add as much as you want. Step 6. For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together, pour it over the hummus, sprinkle with fresh mint, pomegranate seeds, chopped red onion and spices: cumin, sumac and dried cilantro.
Sweet Potato Hummus with Shrimp
Recipe by Andrey Palesik, chef of the restaurant ERWIN.RiverSeaOcean
Sweet potato hummus with shrimp Photo: Press service of the restaurant ERWIN.RiverSeaOcean.
- 15 ml vegetable oil
- 1 g chili pepper
- 5 g garlic
- Salt
- 2 g cashews
- Watercress
- 55 g shrimp
- 2 g cilantro
- 10 g tapioca chips
- 20 g polenta chips
For hummus (120 g per 1 serving):
- 300 g boiled chickpeas
- 600 g sweet potato cream
- 70 ml vegetable oil
- 55 ml olive oil
- Salt
- 30 g cilantro
- 5 g garlic
- 70 ml lemon juice
- 130 g cashew nuts
- 60 g tahini paste
For the sweet potato cream:
- 830 g sweet potato
- 200 ml coconut milk
- Salt
- 25 ml lime juice
Step 1. Make sweet potato cream: rinse the sweet potato thoroughly, boil until tender, peel. Step 2. Heat the coconut milk, mix with the remaining ingredients, and grind in a blender until smooth. Step 3. Prepare hummus by combining all the necessary ingredients for hummus and grinding until smooth. Step 4. Fry shrimp with garlic, chili pepper, cilantro and salt. Step 5. Place hummus in a deep plate, sprinkle with chopped cashew nuts, and place shrimp on top. Garnish with polenta chips, tapioca chips and watercress.
Nutritional value and basic chemical composition of hummus
Calorie content and composition of the dish may vary depending on the ingredients used. Let's give some approximate data.
Nutritional value of hummus (per 100 g):
- calorie content: from 200–350 kcal;
- proteins: 6–12 g;
- carbohydrates: 8–20 g;
- fats: 7–25 g.
The dish is based on chickpeas (read more about them in our
recent article ) and vegetable oil , and they contain nutrients and valuable microelements:
- a large amount of vegetable protein (important for vegetarians);
- dietary fiber (needed for good digestion and normal functioning of the intestinal microbiota);
- B vitamins (primarily B6);
- manganese (needed for normal functioning of the immune system);
- potassium and magnesium (necessary for normalizing the functioning of blood vessels and the heart, maintaining muscle elasticity and preventing spasms);
- iron (necessary for the synthesis of red blood cells - erythrocytes);
- vitamins A and E (important for eye health and vision restoration; these are antioxidants that protect tissue and organ cells from destruction and aging).
Hummus with crispy eggplant
Recipe by Sergei Nosov, brand chef of Syrovarnya restaurants
Hummus with crispy eggplant Photo: Syrovarnya Restaurant
- 150 g chickpeas
- 30 g tahini paste
- Salt and pepper
- 100 g eggplant
- 10 g starch
- Salt
For decoration:
- Roasted cashews
- Sesame
- Boiled chickpeas
- A couple drops of olive oil
- Sprig of cilantro
Step 1. Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight, then simmer over low heat until softened (about 2 hours). Step 2. Drain the liquid, leaving a little in reserve. Step 3: Place chickpeas in a blender, add tahini and blend until smooth. Add more liquid if necessary. Step 4. Cut the eggplant into very small strips, roll in starch, add salt and deep-fry. Step 5. Place hummus on a plate and garnish with olive oil, crushed cashews, boiled chickpeas, sesame seeds and cilantro.
How long can I store homemade hummus?
Homemade hummus contains no preservatives. Therefore, its shelf life is limited to 4-5 days. Store the chickpea snack in the refrigerator in a closed container. I use a glass container with a snap-on lid, but you can also use a regular glass jar.
Chickpea paste can be frozen. The shelf life of hummus in the freezer is not 3 months. I prefer to eat freshly prepared snacks and not freeze them.
Pasta with fresh herbs can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a day. Therefore, it is recommended to add herbs to the appetizer immediately before serving.
