A few years back, I was walking through Soho in London and noticed a new restaurant called Hummus Bros.  Loving hummus, I was immediately interested in going and trying this place out but I just didn’t have anybody that I thought would be willing to go with me.  Years past and I still hadn’t tried it.

hummus bros

Then, a few weeks ago my friend Kelly – another hummus lover – had some time to spare in central London. We decided that now was the time to lose our Hummus Bros virginity.  Boy, we were not disappointed!  It may just be the case that this is the perfect ‘fast food’ restaurant for me.

Firstly, any restaurant chain that uses a pun as their tag line is off to a good start with me.  Really, Hummus Bros, you had me at ‘give chickpeas a chance’. Still the truth is always in the tasting and as much as I love hummus (did I mention that?), there are few things as disappointing as being served a bad hummus. Perhaps this is the case simply because of the high expectations you carry with you from whatever your most recent mind blowing hummus had been.  You are chasing that hummus high and anything that undermines that hits hard.

Good thing then that the hummus on offer from Hummus Bros is so amazingly good! Firstly, it isn’t just about the hummus that you can get there but what you get on top of your hummus. The hummus is a base and then you can order any number of combinations piled on top. Then, you are given a wonderfully warm brown pita to scoop it all up.

The toppings range from the very vegetarian offerings such as chickpeas or fava beans to the decidedly carnivore such as slow cooked stewed beef.  Kelly and I ordered a few small dishes between us to try. The servings were generous and without a doubt if I was going on my own it would be enough to order one small hummus. However, this was more like the hummus sisters throwing a party. So,we went nuts and tried a number of them. Each one was super good.

If there is one food item that rivals my love for hummus it would be mushrooms. So, when I saw the mushroom topped hummus I knew that had to be one I tried. It was vegetarian delight of stewed mushrooms and caramelized onions nestled on top of their creamy hummus. They give you the option of adding sun dried tomatoes to that mixture and I didn’t have to think twice about saying yes. It was truly an amazing combination.

Hummus Bros Mushroom Hummus

What I found particularly interesting about the hummus sold at Hummus Bros was that the tahini was served in a dollop on top of the hummus.  Which meant you could swirl it in yourself in the amount you desired. I love tahini so it was all in with that sesame goodness!

Another plus for Hummus Bros is the attention they pay to making their food fit into your nutritional requirements. Not only does their website have a full break down of the calorie and fat content of each of their dishes but they also have reduced fat hummus available. If you have gluten issues, you can also ask for the pita bread to be substituted with rice cakes, gluten free bread or carrot sticks.

When we went, we did have to ask them for the reduced fat hummus because we didn’t see it mentioned on the menu. However, when we did ask there was no problem at all in getting it. All this praise for their hummus and we had the reduced fat version. I bet the full fat must be even better.

If you have a soft spot for hummus and are in London then make sure you find your local branch of Hummus Bros and give them a try. Oh, and don’t forget to wash all that chickpea goodness down with a glass of their fresh mint and ginger lemonade!

All of which means it is time to get serious again and shift this weight. I am so sick of stagnating with my weight loss. Which is more or less what I have done for the past year. I know I can get to the finish line. It just requires me to focus and and not be sidetracked.

So, to usher back in my diet blinkers I am starting the healthy eating over with a new version of – what you must know by now – is pretty much my favourite dish. What you have to love about hummus is that once you have a basic hummus recipe down you can play with it in any number of ways. Even changing up just a few ingredients can make, what tastes like, a totally different hummus recipe.

In addition to jump starting the diet efforts, I am also aiming to use up things lurking in the back of my fridge before I allow myself to buy any ‘new and interesting’ items. I am always wanting to try new things but then I end up with half a jar of something that I don’t know how to use in enough ways to finish off.

Preserved lemons are something I was playing with not too long back. When I opened the fridge to try and brainstorm for a new hummus recipe, sure enough, that partially used jar of preserved lemons was sitting right there between the fish sauce and the the mango wasabi mustard. After a bit of contemplation, I took up the challenge.

Guess what? It turns out preserved lemons can work really well in a hummus recipe. Since both have Middle Eastern origins that shouldn’t be too shocking, I suppose. Plus, most hummus recipes include lemon juice. So, the basic flavours are already accounted for in the classic recipe.

Most things I have read about how to use preserved lemons in recipes, only includes using the skin. I couldn’t find anything about using the preserved lemon pulp but it felt so wrong to just throw them out. I threw them into the mix rather than throwing them away and it turns out that it actually really worked. I think that is because they carry the salt content. So, if you just either skip or limit the salt in the rest of your hummus recipe it works well and you haven’t wasted any of the lemon.

I have a feeling this won’t be the last hummus recipe I develop over the next year as I try to continue down the scales. If they all work this well, I will be a happy – hopefully smaller – woman.

Preserved lemon hummus

preserved lemon hummus recipe

Ingredients:
1 (400g) can chickpeas, drained but the liquid reserved
1/4 cup tahini
3 cloves garlic
2 preserved lemons, including the pulp, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons reserved chickpea juice
freshly ground pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste, if required
fresh parsley and lemon zest, to garnish

Directions:

1. Put the chickpeas, tahini, garlic and preserved lemons into a blender or food processor.
2. Blitz in short bursts, pushing the mixture down when needed until everything is combined.
3. Add the chickpea juice and mix for a few more seconds. If you want it less thick you can always add more of the juice.
4. Taste a bit and decide if you need to add any salt. If you do add the salt and pepper. If not, just the pepper and mix for a couple seconds.
5. Roughly chop parsley and zest a lemon.
6. Serve topped with the parsley and lemon

Serves: 2 to 4