It happened as I watched the fat melt off my body and my memory stop deteriorating (and begin healing) over the past four and a half months as I experimented with adding fat back into my diet. Not unlimited amounts of fat, but fat in measured amounts, per the Bright Line Eating weight loss guidelines. If you haven’t caught onto my current situation yet, I’m weighing all of my food portions now and sticking to three meals per day with no snacks.
I’m feeling calm and satiated on my current eating experiment. My mind chatter about what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat is at the lowest it’s been in my memory.
And I’m sure happy about being able to eat this hummus. Guilt free, at least for now. As I’ve learned with my body and my mind regarding my food choices, the only thing I can bank on is today. I’ve got no idea what the future holds.
The World’s Best Hummus (aka Zaide Hummus)
BLE serving size: 4 ounces = 1 protein (women), 6 ounces = 1 protein (men)
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup fresh or high quality bottled lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini
1 Tbsp salt, or less, depending on your taste buds (you’re probably gonna want to start with a lot less)
3 cups drained chick peas, reserving the cooking liquid, aka aqua faba
For smoothest consistency, place all ingredients, except chick peas, into a high powered blender and blend. Add chick peas and blend again. Add reserved bean cooking liquid until you achieve desired consistency.
Alternatively, you can place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and blend until it reaches desired consistency, adding just enough reserved chick pea cooking liquid to help it get to that consistency.
Tips: You can stir in some reserved whole chick peas for a fun presentation. Garnish with paprika and chopped parsley when bringing it to a par-tay!
If you’d love ethereally smooth hummus, you may enjoy SmittenKitchen’s added step….. Should I give it away? Maybe you won’t read her excellent blogpost if I give it away… Ok, ok, spoiler alert, it’s to peel the chickpeas.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/01/ethereally-smooth-hummus/
I’ve known about doing it, and I’ve contemplated it, but I just think it’s too much effort and then I won’t want to make my own. Have you tried doing this? Is it the pain in the arse that I think it is or am I being a baby?
I attempted to peel the chickpeas. It is a pain, does make for a smoother product but sheesh, too much work. Hummus is so easy and good without peeling!
Thank you for telling me it is a pain. I will feel no guilt in making my hummus forevermore with the skins on the chick peas!
if you use a Vitamix and aquafaba, it’s perfectly smooth and creamy. I can’t imagine it being any more so even if you peel the chickpeas!
I image you are right Fran!
I’ve peeled them before and sometimes I bother when I have the time and really want it extra smooth. I peel them usually the night before making the hummus so that I can do it in front of the tv. Then TV watching feels almost productive. I have also done it while reading on a kindle, but you need a towel handy. 🙂
For grins & giggles I plunged both hands into a bowl of canned chickpeas I’d rinsed and was soaking for good measure. Now work yesterday was intense my was head spinning by day’s end and the tactile pleasure of popping the skins off those garbanzos was a relaxing meditation. I’ve never been one to enjoy popping bubble wrap but the sensation (and satisfaction) must be similar and it was the perfect way for me to get out of my head while playing with my food. I can’t promise I’ll peel my chickpeas every time but I’m damn happy I did this time.
Even though I truly believe in the benefits of a high carb, low fat diet, I, personally do much better with a bit of fat in my diet a day. If I have tahini in my hummus, that will do, or olives in something, some avocado on a dish. I pretty much limit my fat to one serving a day, so if I have tahini in my hummus, that will be it for the day. But this really stops cravings in me – it doesn’t make me want more fat, just keeps me satisfied. I am making this hummus today, and I will NOT be peeling my garbanzos! But kudos to anyone who does! It sounds pretty zen…
Wendy this looks great. Is fat calculated as well as protein for the day on BLE?
Thank you!
Fat is a separate food category from protein on BLE. Hummus is listed as a protein on BLE and there is no special requirement that it be fat free.
Really? My brain may take time to absorb that fat is separate….
There are a lot of things about the BLE food plan that I needed time to mentally adjust too. It’s not a race. Think of it as a one day at a time experiment. It’s very different than how many of us have become accustomed to eating and we need to go easy on ourselves if we decide to give it a try and see how our body responds.
How many servings does this recipe make? I realize you use a scale to determine one portion but just wondering how many servings to expect? As far as salt goes, one Tbs. contains 6960 mg sodium! I definitely will use less – maybe 1 teaspoon for 2320 mg. for the entire recipe.
I ma so glad that Bright Line Eating has been very helpful to you! Thanks for sharing your continuing journey 🙂
I’m so sorry, I don’t know the answer to that question.
OK, I may be a little behind but what memory problems? I am having a terrible time with that right now and it is really scary. I started taking B12 and that has helped some but I am thinking maybe I am missing something else like omega-3s.
Hi Kristy, I haven’t really mentioned it much here, if at all. In the last few years my memory loss had gotten to the point of scaring me. I think with the addition of fat back into my diet things seem to be righting themselves again, but it could take a while for me to recover. I can’t tell you that it was the low fat diet and only the low fat diet, but I suspect it was a large part of my memory loss.
Would love to hear more about this if you care to share in the future.
hugs. Also hummus has become a food group for me, I probably would have to count it as my fat & protein due to my quantity:)
I must admit, I always add some tahini to my hummus. I can easily leave out the olive oil, but the tahini stays. Foot is planted in the ground on this one. I like the proportions in this recipe and will give it a try. I have never put in that much lemon juice and bet it really perks things up! Thank you, Wendy!
Cyd, Let me know what you think. I love lemon and lime juice so it’s possible that’s where my passion for this recipe comes from!
I made this yesterday in a food processor and it was delicious. Even with significantly less salt. (: Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it’s great with much less salt! I just wanted to be true to the chef’s recipe when I published it. 🙂
I just made this hummus. It truly is a delicious hummus. The lemon really gives a great flavor. I used almost 1 teaspoon of salt and will use less next time. Thanks for sharing. I am curious as to what you are eating for your meals each day. I still follow Dr. Fuhrman and have since 2010. On a side note, my brother lives in SH also.